Occupational diseases more than doubled in the real-estate sector, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA data from the 2015 and 2016 Integrated Survey on Labor and Employment (ISLE) showed occupational diseases in real estate increased 189.6 percent in 2015.
The ISLE showed occupational disease cases increased to 695 in 2015 from 240 cases in 2013.
“An occupational disease is defined as an abnormal condition or disorder other than one resulting from an occupational injury caused by exposure over a period of time to risk factors associated with work activity, such as contact with certain chemicals, inhaling coal dust, carrying out repetitive movements, etc.,” the PSA said.
However, in terms of actual numbers, data showed that occupational diseases across industries in 2015 showed that administrative and support service activities accounted for the largest share.
Diseases in this sector account for a third, or 34.3 percent, or 43,183 cases of the total in 2015. There was a total of 125,973 occupational disease cases in 2015.
The PSA said call-center activities, considered to be part of administrative and support service activities, exceeded all other subsectors in the administrative and support services industry on the number of cases of occupational diseases at 31,270 in 2015.
Data showed that this is equivalent to almost one-fourth, or 24.8 percent of the total cases, which meant that 1 out of every 4 cases of total occupational diseases in the industry originated from call centers.
The PSA said back pain was the most common occupational disease/injury in call centers, with 7,428 cases, followed by occupational lung disease with 5,266 cases, and occupational asthma, 4,305 cases.