DOLE supports call vs asbestos use

2011/07/21

 

With the health and safety of the country's workforce as one of its paramount priorities, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday issued a call strongly supporting the bid against asbestos use as it pushes for its inclusion in the list of chemicals identified as hazardous to both health and environment.

Our call against the use of asbestos is in line with the country's position in the upcoming 5th Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade in Geneva, Switzerland, DOLE Acting Secretary Danilo P. Cruz said in a press release.

Concerned with the exigency to ensure workers safety against the danger posed by asbestos, Cruz issued the DOLE's call to include asbestos in the roster of chemicals and pesticides, which will be severely restricted or banned by parties to the convention due to health and environmental risks.

The DOLE, through the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC), fully supports the country's stand against asbestos use, hence, it vies for its inclusion in the Conventions list of chemicals for doable restriction and/or ban. Given such legal embargo at a global level, we could avert the proliferation of asbestos-related diseases in all workplaces, Cruz said.

The Philippines is one of the signatories to the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty designed to protect developing nations from toxic trade and hazardous chemical use. In the Conventions fifth meeting on 20 to 24 June 2011 in Geneva, Switzerland, the inclusion of asbestos in the Convention's watch list of hazardous chemicals will be discussed.

In the battle against the killer dust at the national level, the DOLE, through its Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC), together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Science and Technology (DOST), comprised the National Program for the Elimination of Asbestos-Related Diseases (NPEAD), an inter-agency government body which implements strategies for the elimination of asbestos-related diseases in the country.

Being one of the prime movers of the NPEAD, Cruz said that the DOLE continues its advocacy to ensure better, safer, and sustainable condition in all workplaces, stating that “the DOLE commits itself to ensure workers safety and to heighten an extensive “zero tolerance against asbestos in all of the country's workplaces.�

In the recent national observance of the International Workers Memorial Day, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Building and Woodworkers International (BWI), and Associated Labor Unions (ALU) handed-over the Statement/Call to Action on Asbestos to Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, which highlighted the trade unions stance to bolster the NPEAD's thrust to ensure the health and safety of workers and workplaces against continued asbestos exposure.

To help develop the NPEAD, Cruz said the OSHC has initiated consultations with concerned agencies for the building up of the profile of asbestos use in the country, adding that the OSHC is currently gathering relevant data on asbestos use.

The term asbestos� describes a group of naturally occurring fibrous serpentine minerals of three main types chrysotile (white), amosite (brown), and crucidolite (blue), which have been used and continues to be used in building materials and consumer goods.

NEWS RELEASE 377-2011

The international scientific community and organizations including the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization (WHO), and International Labor Office (ILO) classified all forms of asbestos as potent carcinogen a deliberate heath hazard.

With over 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of highly hazardous asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Materials (ACMs) imported every year, thousands of Filipino workers and their families are exposed to the perils of asbestos.

Embedded in consumer and industrial goods such as fiber cement boards, packaging and construction mastics and materials, gaskets, ceiling/floor tiles and pipes, friction and mechanical parts, such as brakes and clutch linings in motor vehicles, the silent killer dust does exist in almost all public structures.

The World Health Organization estimates 125 million workers worldwide are exposed to asbestos in their workplaces. This translates to an appalling 107,000 workers dying each year to asbestos-related diseases.

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FFW backs Green Jobs Confab

2011/07/21

 

As a responsibility to the future generation we have to go green, said Atty. Sonny Matula, president of the Federation of Free Workers (FFW).

Matula issued the statement in support of the 1st Philippine Green Jobs Conference which was launched on Thursday at the Department of Labor and Employment, Intramuros, Manila.

Climate change has been drastically affecting our lives and livelihoods, it's time to get our acts together and fight back to save our jobs as we save the environment, Matula added.

Workers are at the forefront of production. We are the unwilling victims if industry and agricultural processes and practices are destructive, hazardous and dangerous to workers, the community and mother earth, Matula added.

Among its other activities, the FFW is active in establishing Safety and Health Committees with management in workplaces where its local unions and affiliates are based.

We are one with the Green Jobs Conference objective of spreading awareness on the positive changes in the workplace as a result of climate change, Matula said.

Matula said the FFW welcomes initiatives that will improve the health and safety conditions of workers while ensuring that enterprises become more sustainable and environment-friendly. The FFW is co-organizing the Green Jobs Conference.

The Federation of Free Workers (FFW) successfully held its 23rd National Convention in Baguio City in June with a strong resolve to “scale up social movement unionism through green jobs and decent work.”

The FFW National Convention, held once every five years, gathered in Baguio City some 200 delegates from FFW member trade unions and sectoral organizations across the country. Promoting green jobs is part of its five-year Policy and Program of Action.

The 1st Philippine Green Jobs Conference is a gathering of government, the private sector, workers, employers, entrepreneuers, and the youth that seeks to develop and enhance information links to identify new jobs, skills and competencies that should be acquired to ensure a just transition toward employment-friendly resources. It will be held on Aug. 15-16, 2011 at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City.

 

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DOLE seeks Green Workplaces

2011/07/26

 

Banking on the country’s rich human resources and with the goal of promoting environmental sustainability, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) recently launched its newest advocacy dubbed, Green Our DOLE Program (GODP), with the pledge to empower the DOLE and its services, bureaus, and attached agencies to be ‘agents of green change’ in the country’s world of work.

Leading the launching of the GODP at the DOLE Ople Hall in Intramuros, Manila, Labor and Employment Secretary and Green Program Champion Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said that through the GODP, the DOLE shall proactively uphold green and eco-friendly practices in its own workplace and among its own workforce for better delivery of programs and services to its stakeholders.

“As the ground-breaker of this nature-friendly project, the DOLE serves as a model agency for other public offices to implement policies and programs that promote cleanliness, safety, and sustainable environment at the workplace,” Baldoz said.

“It is imperative for DOLE officials and employees to set the lead, and be sufficiently equipped with knowledge, skills, and behavioral capacity to actively involve themselves in green workplace and productivity improvement programs,” the labor chief added.

The DOLE’s novel program aims to transform DOLE workplaces into cleaner, safer and carbon-free work environment and DOLE officials and employees into a happy and healthy workforce. The GODP also aims for the efficient use of resources and an economical system of waste reduction and management. Also incorporated in the GODP are the implementation of green principles, strategies, and outcomes into DOLE Cluster programs, projects and services; delivery of quality DOLE programs and services to workers; and creation of a greenbelt community amongst the DOLE offices.

“I have directed all DOLE services, bureaus, regional offices, and attached agencies to immediately implement GODP in their respective offices and units and cascade this down to the grassroots level. Given the exigency of climate change, we cannot just simply sit down in our office and ignore the threats that could destroy our ecology, which will eventually affect even our own workplaces,” Baldoz stressed.

Emphasizing the importance of the green project, Baldoz said that the DOLE shall also launch other “greening” advocacies in the course of GODP implementation, including the 1st Green Jobs Conference in the Philippines slated on August 15-16 at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Diliman, Quezon City, and the active collaboration with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the National Greening Program as mandated by President Benigno Aquino III to ensure biodiversity and food security to address the problems on climate change and poverty reduction.

On her part, Labor Undersecretary for social protection Lourdes M. Trasmonte underscored that GODP is a management strategy to create awareness and proactive consciousness on the concepts, principles, and application of green productivity (GP) not only to the DOLE officials and employees, but also to the tripartite partners from labor and management towards improved workforce protection and productivity amongst all industries in the country.

“The DOLE wants our social partners in labor and business to have a sense of responsibility and ownership on the implementation of the GODP in their respective industries and workplaces. So we are taking the GODP as a shared responsibility,” Trasmonte said.

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DOLE, "Green Partners" launch 'green job' website 1st Philippine Green Jobs Conference

2011/07/26

 

For the first time, a new and dedicated “green” website will be available to workers and employers from where they can learn best practices to adapt to and mitigate climate change.

The “green” website can also be accessed to register for the 1st Philippine Green Jobs Conference, to be held from 15 to 16 August 2011 at the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) in Diliman, Quezon City.

Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, joined by the DOLE’s local and international “Green Partners”, namely Climate Change Commission (CCC), the National Youth Commission (NYC), Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), Federation of Free Workers (FFW), Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), launched the website, as well as the conference, yesterday, during a media conference at the DOLE’s Ople Hall in Intramuros, Manila.

One of the private sector partners is STI Education Services Group, Inc. which is developing and is administering the conference on-line registrations.

During the launching, statements of support were delivered by Secretary Mary Ann Lucille Sering of the CCC; Chairperson Leon Flores III of the NYC; Director Lawrence Jeffrey Johnson of the ILO Country Office for the Philippines; and key labor and employer leaders, including ECOP President EdgardoLacson; Atty. Jose Sonny Matula of the FFW; and Atty. Alex Villaviza of the TUCP.

Baldoz said the DOLE-led 1st Philippine Green Jobs Conference is in pursuit of Item No. 15 on the 16-point Social Contract of President Benigno S. Aquino III, which provides for “planning alternative, inclusive urban developments where people of varying income levels as integrated in productive, healthy and safe communities”.

The labor chief said that in this light, the green job advocacy of the DOLE supported by its green partners, shall be an instrument to spread awareness in the world of work about green job as an activity spawned by the need to adapt to and mitigate climate change, and consequently, the new skills and competencies required in the endeavor.

“In being so, the Philippines’s green job advocacy, in harmony with global environmental initiatives, fit the overarching goal enunciated by President Aquino III in his 22-point labor and employment agenda which is to “invest in our country’s top resource, our human resource, to make us more competitive and employable while promoting industrial peace based on social justice.”

The DOLE’s own efforts, said Baldoz, are anchored firmly on its Green Workplace Advocacy program which focuses on generating awareness on green jobs, and recently-launched Green Our DOLE Program (GODP) that aims to make us a model, environment-friendly agency pursuing the best practices in our own turf.

“Hand-in-hand with our Green Partners, the green jobs advocacy shall be sustained as a “collaborative policy and promotion initiative among the various sectors and stakeholders to come up with practical and doable greener solutions in an increasing number or workplaces across the country,” she said.

To access the “green job” website, visit the www.philgreenjobs.dole.gov.ph.

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