Labor agency issues recommendations for Subic shipyard

THE Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) issued seven recommendations to a Subic shipyard company whose operations have recently killed six and injured others last October 7.

Although it withheld penalties for Keppel Shipyard Inc. (KSI), the agency nevertheless said that it should accredit all safety officers of the company and its subcontractors.

Other recommendations include employing at least two full-time accredited safety practitioners who will oversee and implement the company's safety program and the submission of the company's Annual Health Safety Environment (HSE) action plan that will be approved by the agency.

The company's safety officers should also attend a five-day Construction Safety Training conducted by the Occupational Safety and health Center (OSHC) or with an accredited safety training organizations, the Dole said.

The agency's two other proposals include the installation of two tower posts of a bigger diameter on each side of the stern ramp instead of just one tower post placed in the middle of the ramp, the regular checking and calibration of cables prior to any repairs on the ramp, and the proper installation and regular inspection by structural engineers of scaffoldings over 10 meters high and all other installations constructed over the scaffoldings.

These recommendations were made by the agency's inspection team immediately after the tragedy, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said.

"KSI management should implement these seven corrective measures on occupational safety and health to avoid the recurrence of the recent mishap in the said shipyard," said Baldoz. "These are short and long term recommendations, which should be undertaken to avoid a possible recurrence of the accident."

Last October 7, a 42-ton steel ramp being erected at the Keppel shipyard collapsed on a group of workers, killing six people and injuring several others.

Based on the report of Labor Undersecretary for Labor Standards and Social Protection Lourdes Trasmonte, several occupational safety and health (OSH) standards were violated.

These violations include inadequate support of the ramp being retrofitted, no design by structural engineer for scaffoldings more than 10 meters high, the temporary electrical installation suspended in the tube and coupler scaffolds, and no Dole-accredited safety practitioners, and no first-aid medical practitioners.

Dole has withheld imposing penalties, pending a report from the Senate inquiry called by Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada. (AMN/Sunnex sunstar.com.ph)

Hanjin Subic refused DOH safety training offer

Korean shipbuilding firm Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Phils. Inc., which has been plagued by work site deaths and injuries, has rejected the "standing offer" of the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) to provide more safety training to its thousands of workers, the head of OSHC said Monday.

OSHC executive director Dr. Dulce Estrella Gust said OSHC gave training to workers of Hanjin and its subcontractors last September.

After that initial session, OSHC has offered to continue the program to inculcate to the workers “the value of health and safety.”

Gust said OSHC, which is attached to the Department of Labor and Employment, insisted on a continuing health and safety program because shipbuilding is a “very, very dangerous” industry.

She added that OSHC could not cultivate the culture of safety in the workplace in one or two sessions.

But Hanjin refused the offer to have OSHC conduct follow-up trainings, Gust said.

“They told us that they want to finish 10 ships first,” she said. “We offered it, we wrote straight to the president of Hanjin, but they declined.” Hanjin, she noted, makes about two vessels per year in its Subic base.

“It's unfortunate that they have this kind of attitude,” Gust said.

There are around 12,000 to 15,000 workers in the Hanjin shipyard in the Subic Bay Freeport. Since the company opened its shipbuilding operations in the Philippines in 2007, 17 workers have died in the workplace, DOLE said.

In the past two weeks, two more workers were killed and three others were injured in separate incidents in the site of one of Hanjin's subcontractors.

Pyeong Jong Yu, the company's deputy managing director, had stressed that the incidents were not related to shipbuilding work.

Gust said the number was “high,” considering the industry and the length of time Hanjin was operating in Subic. “It's really worrying,” she said.

Hanjin should also ensure that its contractors adhere to safety standards, she added.

The Labor department has expressed alarm over the rising number of workplace deaths in the Hanjin shipyard. Last September, DOLE instituted a zero-accident program in the Hanjin site.

The program entails that Hanjin institute a system that would correct, update, and disseminate information on potential hazards and risks to its workers especially the newly hired ones. By Kristine L. Alave - Philippine Daily Inquirer