Revision of Safety Regulations To Improve Systems and Practices in Construction

May 1, 1982

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 1238

 

WHEREAS, the number of construction, accidents has increased in recent years, resulting in injuries, some of which have been fatal, to workers of construction firms;

WHEREAS, many of these accidents are known to have been caused by faulty construction practices and obsolete technology, including the use of inferior materials in scaffoldings and similar construction tools;

WHEREAS, there is an urgent need for regulating construction work to insure safer practices and prevent accidents that exact so heavy a toll on life and property;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Republic of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby direct as follows:

1. The Minister of Labor and Employment shall cause the revision of existing safety regulations promulgated under the Labor Code of the Philippines for the purpose of improving systems and practices in construction, especially of high-rise buildings, including the prohibitions of the use of wood or bamboo scaffoldings beyond a certain height as shall be determined after proper study; and

2. The foregoing study and determination shall be completed within six (6) months from the date of issuance of this Instructions and shall thereafter be translated into appropriate safety regulations by the Minister of Labor and Employment.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 1st day of May, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Two.