BASIC OCCUPATIONAL

SAFETY AND HEALTH

TRAINING
OSH SITUATIONER
OSH SITUATION IN THE GLOBAL AND LOCAL LEVELS
OSH Figures

 The International Labour Organization (ILO) Safework Introductory Report in

2008 showed that close to 50% of work-related deaths occur in Asia.
 In developing countries, fatality rates are five to six times higher than in
industrialized nations and in developing countries where, every year, around
170,000 agricultural workers and 320,000 people die from exposures to biological
risks such as viral, bacterial, insect or animal related risks.
 According to the July 2011 Current Labor Statistics of the DOLE Bureau of Labor
and Employment Statistics (BLES), there are 8M OFWs with 1.47M deployed in
2010. Of the OFWs deployed in 2010, 1,123,676 are land based and 347,150 are
sea-based.
 Taken in 2007-2008 and released in 2010, the
latest Bureau of Labor and Employment
Statistics (BLES) Integrated Survey (BITS) on
cases of occupational injuries and diseases that
affected private sector establishments covered
6,460 sample non-agricultural establishments
with 20 or more workers.
 It has expanded its coverage 65 industries
including building and repairing of ships and
boats (manufacturing industry); bus line
operation (transport, storage and
communications); accounting, bookkeeping
and auditing activities; tax consultancy,
architectural, engineering and related technical
consultancy; call center activities, medical
transcription and related outsourcing activities
(real estate, renting and business activities);
and animated films and cartoons production
(other community, social and personal service
activities) industries.
 Fatalities decreased by 31.8% (from 170
in 2003 to 116 in 2007. However those
permanently incapacitated increased by
23.7 % (from 131 in 2003 to 162 in 2007).
 Contributing factors to occupational
accidents and injuries include machines,
equipment, hand tools, materials,
buildings, structures and chemical
substances.
 On the other hand, training on the proper handling and
correct operation of machines, use of personal protective
equipment (PPE) precautions and carefulness in work
prevent accidents and promote safety in establishments.
 The largest caseload of injuries with workdays lost in 2007
was recorded in manufacturing establishments at 61.0%
(12,427). This industry also posted the biggest share at
61.9% four years earlier. The rest of the industries had
lower shares ranging from 0.2% (financial intermediation)
to 9.2% (hotels and restaurants) in 2007 and from 0.3%
(mining and quarrying) to 11.6% (wholesale and retail
trade) in 2003. (Table 1).
 Relative to their specific industry totals, private education
injury cases with workdays lost had multiplied by as much
as three times its 2003 level (from 132 in 2003 to 436 in
2007). Other noticeable percentage increases were recorded
in mining and quarrying at 58.3% (from 60 in 2003 to 95 in
2007) and in hotels and restaurants at 57.1% (from 1,195 in
2003 to 1,877 in 2007). On the other hand, remarkable
decreases were noted in other community, social and
personal service entities at 66.1% (from 546 in 2003 to 185
in 2007) and in financial intermediation activities at 52.0%
(from 100 in 2003 to 48 in 2007).
Definition of Terms:

 Occupational accident
– an unexpected and/or unplanned occurrence which results personal injury, disease, or
death to one or more workers. It can occur outside the usual workplace while the worker
is on business on behalf of his/her employer.

 Occupational injury
– an injury resulting from a work-related event or from an occupational accident.
Definition of Terms:

 Temporary incapacity
– case where an injured person was absent from work for at least 1 day, excluding the
day of accident, and
1) was able to perform again the normal duties of the job occupied at the time of the
occupational accident or
2) will able to perform the same job but his/her total absence from work is expected to
not exceed a year starting the day after the accident, or
3) did not return the same job but the reason for changing the job is not related to
his/her inability to perform the job at the time of the occupational accident.
Definition of Terms:

 Permanent incapacity
– case where an injured person was absent from work for at least 1 day, excluding the day
of the accident, and
1) was never able to perform again the normal duties of the job occupied at the time of
the occupational accident, or
2) will be able to perform the same job but his/her total absence is expected to exceed a
year starting the day after the accident.
Definition of Terms:

 Fatal case
– case where a person is fatally injured because of occupational accident.
Definition of Terms:

 Frequency Rate (FR)

– refers to cases of occupational injuries with workdays lost per 1,000,000 employee-
hours of work

 Incidence Rate (IR)

– refers to cases of occupational injuries with workdays lost per 1,000 workers
Definition of Terms:

 Severity Rate (SR)

– refers to workdays lost of cases of occupational injuries resulting to temporary
incapacity per 1,000,000 employee-hours of work.

 Average Workdays Lost

– refers to workdays lost for every case of occupational injury resulting to temporary
incapacity.
Categories by incapacity for work on cases with workdays lost recorded frequency
rates as follows:
Category 2003 2007 Increment

Total 4.07 2.79 -1.28

Fatal 0.03 0.02 -0.01
Non-fatal 4.04 2.77 -1.27
Permanent
0.02 0.02 --
Incapacity
Temporary
4.02 2.75 -1.27
Incapacity
Some emerging issues in OSH:
 Women workers’ issues
– women’s role as a mother and the stress that comes with it could affect her performance at work.
 OSH and child labor’s issues
– employing children in hazardous work can cause serious injury, disease or death.
 Agricultural issues
– the use of pesticides of farmers has great effect in his/her health when exposed to the chemical.
 Informal sector’s issue
– lack of information on OSH of informal workers pose an issue since they have the tendency to ignore their
health concerns.
 In schools’ issue
– student are also exposed to hazards such as chemicals and electricity; psycho-social issues are also becoming
more common.
 Although the number of work-related accidents and illnesses has decreased in the
recent years here in the Philippines, cases of occupational injuries and diseases
continue to occur. Therefore, the OSHC subscribe to the principle that “one life
lost is one too many.” Everyone must therefore be involved in the effort to contain
OSH concerns to enhance one’s working life. After all, most of us work mainly
for economic purposes - “ang hanap-buhay ay para ikabuhay, hindi para ikamatay.