Companies with occupational safety and health (OSH) violations may face stiffer penalties after the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) released the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 11058.
The DOLE released last week the IRR of RA 11058, or the Occupational Safety and Health Act, following its approval by the Tripartite Industrial Peace Council (TIPC).
Among the salient points of the 23-page document are the listed corresponding administrative fines for OSH violations.
Establishments, which will fail to register with the DOLE, or provide job safety instruction or orientation to their employees prior to work will be fined P20,000.
If a company fails to provide the necessary OSH training to their workers, they could be assessed a fine of P25,000.
A P30,000 fine will be imposed for firms if they commit these infractions: failure to provide safety signage and devices; failure to provide the necessary medical supplies, equipment and facilities; and failure to submit reportorial requirements as prescribed by OSH standards.
The P40,000 fine will apply for the lack of safety officer and/or Occupational Health personnel; personnel or professionals for OSH standards who have no certification; lack of safety and health committee; lack or unimplemented comprehensive safety and health program; lack of information on hazards and risks; violation of sanitary and welfare facilities provisions of the OSH Law.
A P50,000 penalty will be imposed for unapproved or uncertified devices and equipment; violation on the personal protective equipment (PPE) of the OSH law; and noncompliance with the DOLE’s work stoppage order (WSO).
“The penalties shall be computed on a per day basis until full compliance is reckoned from the date of notice or service of the compliance order to the employer without prejudice to the filing of a criminal or civil case in the regular courts,” the IRR read.
Erring companies which would repeatedly commit OSH violations, misrepresentations on OSH standards, or implement retaliatory measures against their employees will face additional penalties.
The fines collected from OSH violators will be used by the government to provide incentives like training and orientation to qualified OSH-compliant employers and workers.
Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo M. Benavidez said the penalties will apply to all employers, contractors and subcontractors regardless of the size of their establishments.
“The IRR would just impose most of the OSH standards already used by the DOLE before. The only difference now is that there is now a corresponding fine which will now apply for all establishments,” Benavidez said in an interview.
The IRR was signed by Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III on December 6 and will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Labor groups lauded the implementation of the OSH law, which they hope will prevent deadly workplace accidents.
While latest government statistics showed there is supposed to be 99-percent compliance rate to OSH standards among inspected firms in 2015 and 2016, several deadly workplace accidents killed dozens of workers in the last three years.
These include the fire in the Kentex Manufacturing Inc. in Valenzuela in 2015 and NCCC Mall fire in Davao City in 2017, and the HTI factory fire in Cavite earlier this year.