Safety monitoring at construction sites to undergo streamlining — Labor dep’t

THE Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) said it and other agencies hope to streamline safety monitoring at construction sites after setting the guidelines for a joint administrative order (JAO).

On Monday, DoLE, together with the departments of Public Works and Highways, Transportation, and Trade and Industry, through the Construction Industry Authority of the Philippines (CIAP), signed the guidelines for implementing JAO No. 1, Series of 2022.

The JAO promotes the welfare of construction workers. It updates JAO No. 01 Series of 2011 with additional provisions related to public health emergencies.

“The guidelines outlined in the JAO ensure that the construction industry remains compliant with the prevailing safety and health standards, protecting workers from undue risks and hazards,” according to the JAO.

“This is particularly essential in terms of crises when the health and safety of our workforce become even more vulnerable,” it added.

DoLE Bureau of Working Conditions Director Alvin B. Curada said that the JAO aims to ensure that all construction companies are compliant with labor law, especially on occupational safety and health standards.

In particular, he said that the JAO will help DoLE identify which projects to inspect first after evaluating data from the various partner agencies.

“This JAO will (help identify) the projects that we need to prioritize. Because we (the agencies) have lists of registered establishments and ongoing projects. From there you can easily target which are the vertical construction projects where many of the accidents happen,” Mr. Curada told BusinessWorld on the sidelines of the signing ceremony.

“Those will be the priorities. While we cannot cover everything due to limited resources, (the JAO) will help us focus on where, when, and who to inspect because of the sharing of information,” he added.

Liberito V. Espiritu, chairman of the CIAP-Philippine Domestic Construction Board, said the updated version of the JAO includes the implementing guidelines to be followed by each agency.

He added that the JAO will also help make the construction industry more competitive, bringing it in line with worker safety practices in other countries.

“In other countries, they prioritize safety … So we should also prioritize safety,” he said. — Justine Irish D. Tabile