Creation of an Institute of Occupational Health and Safety in the Ministry of Labor

May 1, 1979

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 855

 

WHEREAS, there is a need to establish an expert industrial disease and occupational safety intelligence center that will help identify potential sources of dangerous chemical substances, noise pollution, and other hazards to workers in their working environment and organize a data bank and clearing house for sustained research on industrial accidents and occupational diseases in the country;

WHEREAS, the Ministry of Labor has been assigned under the Labor Code of the Philippines, expanded tasks and responsibilities to promulgate and enforce occupational health and safety standards to reduce or minimize occupational hazards in all workplaces;

WHEREAS, the responsibility of the Ministry of Labor on occupational health and safety extends to the continuing system of research and study in dealing with occupational health and safety problems in all places of employment, including and development and implementation of training programs in such fields; cdt

WHEREAS, the Employees' Compensation Commission, of which the Minister of Labor is ex-officio Chairman, is empowered to initiate policies and programs towards adequate occupational health and safety and accident prevention in the working environment;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby direct as follows:

1. There is hereby created in the Ministry of Labor an Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, hereinafter referred to as the Institute, which shall be headed by an Executive Director, under the immediate supervision of the Minister of Labor.

2. The Institute shall have the following powers and functions:

(a) To undertake continuing studies and research on occupational health and safety of employees in their working environment;

(b) To lay the groundwork for establishing causal connection between diseases and occupations in environmental conditions;

(c) To develop medical criteria in determining the nature and extent of impairment or diminution in health, functional capacity, or life expectancy of employees as a result of their work and working conditions;

(d) To assist in the formulation of rules and regulations on occupational health and safety, rehabilitation of disabled workers in industry and other matters related thereto;

(e) To serve as clearing house of information on innovative methods, techniques and approaches in dealing with occupational health and safety problems; aisa dc

(f) To undertake or authorize the undertaking and funding of operations for the purpose of gathering information in aid of the foregoing functions through the utilization of funds from the Ministry of Labor, from the twelve percent loading fund of the State Insurance Fund administered by the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System under PD 626, as amended, or through assistance from international or bilateral agencies;

(g) To extend the scope of its research studies and information data gathering functions to the countries of Southeast Asia, particularly the Asean Sub-region; and

(h) To undertake, develop and implement training programs in close consultation and collaboration with the Employees' Compensation Commission, in the fields of occupational safety and industrial health, rehabilitation and related interests.

3. The Institute is authorized to receive donations from domestic and international organizations and other sources provided that the same are in accordance with law and are not repugnant to the policies of the State.

4. The Minister of Labor, in close consultation with such professional and specialty groups and organizations that the Minister of Labor may invite, shall issue rules and regulations to implement this Letter of Instructions.

5. For the initial funding of the Institute, there is hereby appropriated the amount of TWO MILLION PESOS out of the loading fund of twelve percent of the State Insurance Fund administered by the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System on a sharing basis of 5/8 for the Social Security System and 3/8 for the Government Service Insurance System, which shall constitute as the operational expenses of the Institute for Calendar Year 1979. aisa dc

Thereafter, the Minister of Labor shall include in the yearly appropriations of the Ministry of Labor, such amounts as may be necessary and adequate to meaningfully administer the Institute, to constitute its annual operational budget.

DONE in Metro Manila, Philippines, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Nine.