VIII. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Standardization

Occupational Disease: Cancer of the Philippine Business Sector

There is an ongoing initiative by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) – two leading agencies advocating occupational safety and health standardization and monitoring at an international scale – to assist developing nations on OSH matters through projects like “Healthy Cities” (a project that aims to “establish healthy public policy at the local level through health promotion).

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Based on the 2007 Factsheet released by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, the reference for this global action, developing countries allot lower budgets for OSH but spends relatively higher percentage of their GDPs on work-related illnesses – as much as 10% of the total GDPs while European nations under the strict mandate of the aforementioned agency only spends around 2.6% to 3.8%.

The agency sets the same standard for all member countries, making the advanced development, promotion and productivity in each member state at par with each other; thus, at par with international standards.

Using the data, it can be interpreted for European countries alone that the lower the OSH budget and policy regulation is, the higher the spending on avoidable circumstances like occupational diseases will be.

In the United States of America (USA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforces all regulations and requirements as mandated by the federal law. It is the governing agency of the US Department of Labor in charge of certifying and inspecting companies. Unlike its counterpart in the Philippines (OSHC), the requirements set by OSHA are all for compliance to keep the operation going. The OSHC requirements, on the other hand, are for accreditation purposes only and not do not serve as prerequisites for permits.

The world’s most recognized certification for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS) is the OHSAS 18000 (Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Services), a British Standard pioneered by BSI Group (British Standard Institution). It is renowned as an equivalent to ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 – the highest certifying body for private or public organizations worldwide. These standards are prevalently used in Europe and North America to help with occupational health and safety performance and develop policy making methods.

Passing one of the three aforementioned certifications is complicated enough. In spite of the difficulties in achieving these high standards, many international organizations still aim to implement all three to get the corresponding accreditation.

Despite global recognition and widespread application from western countries and first-world Asian countries (even including Malaysia), Philippine companies do not widely use these standards and in fact, do not allot budget as much as their foreign counterparts do.

The AFNOR Groupe of France and Standards Australia are the counterparts of the Occupational Safety and Health Center in the Philippines. Both agencies have the same strict regulations as that of the International Organizations for Standardization (ISO).

The countries with less numbers of deaths as a direct result, if not associated, of occupational diseases belong to the group with stricter and more regulated standards in OSH. More studies are also conducted by their designated agencies to conform and adopt improved policies and guidelines on occupational health and safety management.