The Department of Labor and Employment warned employers and company owners to maintain occupational safety and health standards in their offices following an incident in an elevator in a Makati building that killed two workers.
Noel Binag, executive director of DOLE’s Occupational Safety and Health Center, said employers are liable for incidents that happen in the workplace.
“Our law states that our employers, those who own the companies, should make sure that their workplaces are safe for our workers and they are not exposed to hazards and any health and safety risks,” he said.
Binag said many companies do not have safety officers and have no safety and health committees.
Workers who have noticed occupational hazards or violation of safety protocols in their workplaces should report it immediately to their employers or to the DOLE to prevent or minimize the occurrence of accidents, Binag said.
Last July 8, two elevator installers were killed while two other workers were hurt when an elevator undergoing repair inside a building in Makati City collapsed.
Three days later, six construction workers died and two others were hurt when a concrete wall collapsed on them in a construction site in Tagaytay City amid a heavy downpour.
The department is already conducting an investigation on these two cases for the possible violation of the respective employers, he added.