NEARLY eight in 10 establishments in the country are deemed compliant to labor standards but just over 50 percent are compliant to occupational safety and health (OSH) rules.
In a statement, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported a high compliance rate among the 74,945 establishments that were inspected by labor inspectors this year when it comes to labor standards as compared to OSH.
“The initial compliance rate is 78.08 percent on general labor standards, and 53.96 percent on OSH,” said DOLE.
“After the inspected establishments have implemented the necessary corrections, the compliance rate is at 88.24 percent on general labor standards, and 72.61 percent on OSH,” it added.
The labor department said among the most notable violations of general labor standards are record-keeping, Pag-IBIG coverage and remittances, PhilHealth coverage, and SSS coverage.
Common violations of OSH include the absence of a first aider, safety officer/s, fire safety inspection certificate, registration of establishment, and formulation of the company OSH program.
In a related development, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma has ordered the suspension of all labor inspection activities come December.
Under Administrative Order No. 342 – 2022, Laguesma directed all DOLE regional directors to temporarily cease all labor inspection activities next month.
“All DOLE regional directors are to temporarily cease all labor inspection activities in their respective regions starting December 1,” said Laguesma.
Exempted in the order are complaint inspections reported to the Department.
They include OSH standards investigations; technical safety inspections, such as inspection of boilers, pressure vessels, and mechanical and electrical wiring installation; and other inspection activities as directed by the DOLE Secretary.
While such activities are suspended, the labor chief ordered DOLE regional offices to attend to all pending labor standards cases for the year.
This, he said, means that all results of inspection activities must be uploaded in the Labor Inspection—Management Information System (MIS) before the end of December.
