Construction Occupational Safety and Health Trainings for Safety Officers II and Loss Control Management (LCM) plus Hazards Identification, Risk Assessment Control (HIRAC) for Safety Officers III

The ILO recognizes that the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his "employment” as a fundamental element of social justice. Construction is known as high-risk type of work. It is all the more vital to ensure safe and healthy working environment through appreciation and implementation of the OSH programmes in the workplace.

ILO Projects in BARMM

The two ongoing ILO Technical Cooperation Projects in BARMM collaborated to conduct training activities that aims primarily at strengthening the technical capacity on construction work safety and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE-BARMM), selected Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Implementing Partner NGOs in BARMM.

Ms Blanca Nieves Dagdag of Balabagan Water System Association receives her Construction Safety Officer II and III Certificates after successfully completing the training course 

One of the ILO Technical Cooperation projects that leads this activity is the “Improvement of Water Supply Equipment Management Capacity for the Establishment of Peace in Mindanao” in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The project aims to provide safe and reliable water supply to vulnerable and marginalized communities in BARMM. Funded by the People of Japan, the project creates sustainable solution to alleviate poverty in communities prone to conflict within the region. The Project responds to the critical need for access to safe water in BARMM areas as outlined in the previous Regional Development Plan (RDP) 2017-2022 of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The RDP highlights the need to ensure water security by expanding coverage of water systems such as rehabilitating and/or upgrading existing water supply in strategic key areas or barangays.

The communities benefit from the local resource-based approach of the project to maximize the available local resources as well as build the capacity of the target community on the management of community-based water system in a sustainable manner. Through community contracting, community-based organizations are supported and capacitated to manage the social and technical requirements of the construction works, ensuring and promoting occupational safety and health, with the over-all supervision of an Implementing Partner. The community is also prepared to sustain the Project through capacitation on Operations and Maintenance of the water system. The Project incorporates the Environmental and Social safeguards in the design and overall implementation.

Aside from the ILO Water and Sanitation (ILO WATSAN) Project, the ILO also implements a Child Labour Project in BARMM.  As the child labour project in BARMM funded by the ILO-Japan Multi-Bilateral Programme is phasing-in and will be working on some communities where the ILO WATSAN Project is also present, it is but imperative that this early it will provide support and work on the local mechanisms and structure that the Water Project has established. This will facilitate the sustainability of the project’s gains that later be of aid in building alliance in addressing child labour issues in the community.

The two highly incorporates OSH, ensuring that all workplace injuries and diseases are preventable, by promoting preventive safety and health culture and establishing risk assessment and control practice. It is envisioned that a community-based approach to OSH will be established within the Water and Child Labour project sites in the next few months.

Safety Officer Trainings

In compliance with RA 11058 (OSH LAW), certified Safety Officers are required to implement OSH program and “ensure that it is in accordance with the provision of OSH standards”. Technical trainings on Construction Occupational Safety and Health (COSH) and Loss Control Management (LCM) are recommended in the context of the water systems construction given the nature of work and the number of workers involved.

Honourable Minister Romeo Sema of MOLE-BARMM emphasized the importance of strengthening OSH in BARMM 

Also, the ILO Project on Child Labour in BARMM supports the capacity building of the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MOLE-BARMM) to fully develop their newly established OSH-NET.  The training will serve as base for MOLE to better implement and monitor programmes on OSH, including community-based OSH approaches in the project sites and in the region as a whole. It also envisioned that the ministry through its OSH-NET will be able to champion the cause of work-safety and health in the region.

COSH Training (COSH II)
To equip participants with the basic knowledge and skills in performing safety audits, assessments and analysis of hazards and risks in the construction industry; determining appropriate control measures and developing and implementing OSH policies and programs.

Loss Control Management (LCM)
To establish the treatment mechanism of job and personal factors that will control unsafe acts and unsafe conditions through focusing on controlling losses before exposures become evaluated.

Expected Outputs
At the end of the course, participants will be able to:
• Identify safety and health hazards and describe health outcomes due to exposure to these hazards;
• Relate the consequences of occupational accidents and diseases to individuals, their families, communities and workplaces / businesses;
• Assess risks of identified hazards;
• Propose the appropriate control measures and implementation plans including recourse mobilization and monitoring & evaluation;
• Describe the importance of effective OSH communication and plan awareness and capacity building events (OSH training and meetings);
• Explain the roles of safety officers in the OSH management system;
• Identify the components of an OSH program and priorities; and
• Develop a workplace-specific OSH re-entry plan or Safe Return to Work

Specific Outputs
• Knowledge about safety and health hazards, risks and control measures in construction
• Understanding the cause of occupational accidents and diseases commonly seen in construction and the prevention measures
• Orientation on various PPE’s used for Industrial and Construction Industry
• Proper wearing and familiarization on the parts of a harness
• Observation of actual safety practices as well as awareness events and their impacts through field visits.

Training Methodology
Under the Department of Labor and Employment's Occupational Safety and Health Center (DOLE- OSHC), their accredited trainers will primarily use lectures combined with group workshops. Participants will learn as well to actual safety and health practices through field visits and demonstration while strictly observing COVID 19 protocols such as physical distancing, hand washing and wearing masks. Engaging powerpoint presentations will be used in classroom-based discussions.

DOLE-OSHC accredited twenty-two new COSH Safety Officers II in BARMM. 
DOLE-OSHC accredited twenty-two new COSH Safety Officers III in BARMM.