Mamangon, Karla Mae P.

June 15,2020

RA 11058: Philippine Occupational Safety and Health Standards

RA 11058 requires employers to provide complete safe work procedures; inform workers
of hazards associated with their specific jobs; provide appropriate and personal protective
equipment which have passed the DOLE’s required tests; and provide access to
mandatory OSH trainings as prescribed by the DOLE.

Workers on the other hand are encouraged to know all they could about the risks inherent
in the tasks they perform, refuse unsafe work, report accidents and actively participate in
planning and implementing the safety and health program of the company they work for.

All safety and health personnel are required to undergo the mandatory basic OSH
trainings required by the DOLE and all workers must undergo the eight-hour safety and
health orientation.

Employers who violate the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) may soon
be fined a P100,000 per day of non-compliance to the OSHS. The fines collected will be
used for the conduct of OSH trainings, education and other programs.

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act will protect the health of
workers in the Philippines.

The World Health Organization (WHO) congratulates the Philippine government for
passing the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Act or the Republic Act (RA)
11058. Once implemented, this significant legislation will help curb the increasing cases
of diseases and injuries in the work environment that confront the country.

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the total cases of occupational diseases
in workplaces reached over 125,000 in 2015. Back pain is the most common type of
occupational disease, making up 32.8% of the reported cases. This is followed by
essential hypertension (11.5%) and neck and shoulder pain (11.4%). Meanwhile, the
most risky industry for workers was found to be in administrative and support service
activities (34.3%) and manufacturing industry (31.1%), jointly comprising almost two
thirds of the total cases of occupational diseases in 2015.
With the RA 11058, employers are now required to comply with occupational safety and
health standards including informing workers on all types of hazards in the workplace and
having the right to refuse unsafe work, as well as providing facilities and personal
protective equipment for the workers, among others.

With this law, the Philippines comes closer to achieving the Sustainable Development
Goal 8.8 to protect the labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments
for all workers. It also boosts the implementation of the WHO-supported Occupational
Health and Safety Sector Plan under the National Environmental Health Action Plan
(2017-2022).

WHO commends the efforts of all stakeholders who supported the passage of this law to
protect the health of workers in the Philippines.

Source:

https://www.who.int/philippines/news/detail/23-08-2018-the-occupational-safety-and-health-
standards-act-will-protect-the-health-of-workers-in-the-
philippines#:~:text=With%20the%20RA%2011058%2C%20employers,for%20the%20workers%2C%20am
ong%20others.

http://oshc.dole.gov.ph/content/good-news/415-ra-11058-ensures-safety-and-health-of-workers