Port workers trained anew on health and occupational safety

DAVAO CITY – Workers at the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) facilities in Luzon and Mindanao were trained anew on handling industrial hazardous and toxic materials – from cargo-handling and inspection to observing health and occupational safety standards – to improve port services and reduce accidents.

Davao Port District Manager Abdussabor Sawadjaan, said the PPA has stepped up “on raising-awareness on Basic Occupational Safety and Health Standards (BOSH) Course in tandem with the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)”.

The move was intended to increase personal consciousness of the workers' occupational health “as industrial hazards escalate in modern work settings”.

Some 35 participants from Luzon and Mindanao joined the BOSH seminar held at the training center of the PPA Port District Office here on October 19-23. They represented local cargo handling operators, in-house PPA ports and terminals safety staff and private ports.

One foreign shipping company based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates also sent participants to the training.

The course modules covered topics on introduction to occupation safety and health (OSH), occupational safety, occupational environment, occupational health, responses to OSH issues and concerns, and re-entry planning.

OSH standards are mandatory rules and standards implemented to eliminate or reduce occupational hazards in every workplace. A PPA statement said that OSH standards “provides protection for each worker from dangers of injury, illness, physical harm or death while doing one’s job, particularly in areas where the interplay of people and elements such as corrosives, electricity, flammables, metals, microbes, oils, virus, among others, are relatively high".

“Port operational areas, hence, are hazard-prone as they serve as the conduits of various goods and humans whose interactions bring about possible threats to health, safety and even security of the area,” the PPA said. “Thus, dockworkers such as arrastre and stevedores, who directly deal with chemicals, equipment, machines or come in contact with dangerous cargoes apart from the natural and man-made elements exposure everyday are most prone to physical stressors and threats while at work which may affect their well-being at present or in the long-term.”

Among the hazard-prone places include garages, dry docks, port hangars, maintenance and repair shops of establishments engaged in air, land and sea transportation, the PPA said.

Under the law, every organization or place of employment covered in the OSH manual has to be inspected at least once a year to determine compliance with OSH standards, the PPA said.

“Special visits may also be authorized by the DOLE to investigate accidents, occupational illnesses or dangerous occurrences, especially those resulting in permanent total disability or death due to working conditions, environmental contaminants and physical conditions,” it added.

Sawadjaan said that safety and health consciousness “is one of the cornerstones of port operations management [and] this mindset should be a daily practice in the workplace to fulfill the Zero Accident Program (ZAP) commitment”.

Annual trainings and updates on OSH were being conducted on those assigned in the implementation of health and safety standards in their respective organizations such as doctors, medics, industrial nurses, safety officers, and field supervisors and managers. “These are the core staff who are in the position to model and teach principles and practices on OSH standards in their respective working environment”.

“Although we already have a safety program, I learned that there are illnesses which our laborers contract on the job, especially skin irritations especially while working in the ship’s hatch,” said Concepcion Dulay, general manager of B.S.D. Arrastre and Stevedoring Services based in Culion, Palawan.

She said she would push for provision of physical protective gears such as masks, gloves, raincoats and towels, including the putting up of drinking water stations “within every worker’s reach to avoid heat stroke”.

Resource speakers were: OSH Training Specialist II Marnie Pebrada (Unsafe/Unhealthy Acts or Conditions); Engr. Alex Marlo Sacabon (Housekeeping Materials Handling and Storage, Electrical Safety, Personal Protective Equipment and Safety Inspection); Engr. Onna Cruz (Fire Safety, Machine Safety and Development/Improvement of OSH Programs at the Establishment Level); Engr. Nelia Granadillos (Industrial Hygiene and Control Measures) and; Dr. Maria Beatriz Villanueva (Workplace Hazards and Their Potential Health Effects).