Occupational safety standards were adopted by the Asian nation in 1978 but lack teeth because parliament has failed to pass a law imposing penalties against violators, Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) Secretary Rosalinda D. Baldoz said.

“I (can) not overemphasize its importance -- and the timeliness of our plea to our lawmakers -- in the light of accidents in our workplaces, some of which have injured and claimed the lives of our workers,” she said in a statement.

A huge fire that killed 72 people and gutted a flip-flop factory in a Manila suburb on Wednesday exposed the unsafe conditions many work under across the nation.

Ms. Baldoz has called the factory’s owners “immoral” and accused them of a raft of illegal labor practices.

Relatives of the victims told AFP the workers were paid well below the minimum wage of P481 ($10.90) a day and forced to toil 12-hour shifts, seven days a week without overtime pay.

They said legally required social security and health insurance payments were also withheld, and workers were forced to constantly inhale foul-smelling chemicals.

A lawyer for the gutted footwear factory has rejected allegations it had flouted labor laws.

Ms. Baldoz said the legislature has yet to act on three related bills, including one imposing criminal penalties for noncompliance with occupational safety and health standards.

The second bill calls for occupational safety regulations in the construction industry and the third would require protective equipment and uniform warnings at workplaces, she added.

Some of the proposed measures were drawn up as early as 2011, Ms. Baldoz added.

Rex Gatchalian, mayor of the industrial district of Valenzuela that hosted the footwear factory, also urged the government to outlaw the practice of paying workers only when they reach a certain production quota.

“This is a practice that we see everywhere.... It’s technically illegal,” he said in an interview over ABS-CBN television.

‘LAWS ADEQUATE BUT NOT ENFORCEMENT’
For its part, Malacañang on Sunday backed the efforts by the DoLE to push for pending legislative measures in Congress to criminalize noncompliance and occupational safety and health violations of companies.

Over the weekend, Ms. Baldoz highlighted three proposed laws pending at the legislative mill of the Philippine Congress -- House Bill No. 2226 (An Act Criminalizing Non-Compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Standards), Senate Bill No. 1368 (An Act to Govern Occupational Safety and Health in the Construction Industry) and House Bill No. 2471 (An Act to Provide for Uniform Warnings on Personal Protective Equipment for Occupational Use).

“These proposed pieces of legislation are part of the package of proposals from the Tripartite Labor Code Reform Committee to amend/revise the Labor Code,” Ms. Baldoz said.

Senate Bill No. 1368 is currently pending approval on the committee level. The other two bills have also yet to pass in their respective committees at the House of Representatives.

For their part, business groups said they were wary if the Valenzuela fire will prompt the government to implement stricter measures or more regulations in securing permits since these are dependent on occupational safety and health compliance of companies.

“We consider the laws adequate but not their enforcement,” John D. Forbes, senior adviser of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said in a text message on Sunday.

“It may make more sense to create partnerships between government offices/LGUs, businesses organizations and civil society to inspect companies regularly as part of compliance with labor regulations,” Henry J. Schumacher, executive director of the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines, said.

Nobuo Fuuji, vice-president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, said: “Keeping safety rules never makes investors away from [the Philippines.]. But in case of unrealistic rules and requesting super expensive equipment, it should be out of the question.” 

Source: Business World Online