Employees are the asset of any institution for its future and continuous success. Thus, an institution or organization should make an effort to meet the needs of its employees and ensure their safety and well-being through a two-way transaction and in an inclusive way.  

The occupational health and safety standards’ main goal is to protect the employee from anticipated accidents, injuries, or illness which may be present at the workplace, making the working environment and condition conducive for working, safe, and healthy (DOLE, 2016). 

The Introductory Training Program on Occupational Health and Safety for UP Manila Health and Safety Committees and Health and Safety Technical Working Groups was conducted on August 1, 2023 at the UP Manila Social Hall. The training program was hosted by Dr. Paul Michael Hernandez,  Chair of UP Manila Health and Safety Committee with the special presence and participation of Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Dr. Arlene A. Samaniego and Zoom participants from the School of Health Sciences. 

The OHS training program is composed of four (4) modules of four (4) hours each implemented for four days and distributed across eight months as follows. 

1. Module 1: Managing Risks for Health and Safety on August 01, 2023;

2. Module 2: Analyzing the Priority of OHS Problem on October 03, 2023;

3. Module 3: Implementing an OHS Program on January 16, 2024; and

4. Module 4: Celebrating Quick Wins on March 12, 2024.

At the end of each module, the participants must be able to share and implement their learnings in their corresponding committees or technical working groups within two months after each training program. The participants were taught to address first the potential risk through risk assessment in the workplace environment to reduce the probability of an employee’s exposure to a hazard, hence, the prevention of accidents. 

More importantly, the training program aims to  educate the employees on how they can assess and characterize the unrealized risks, recognize possible hazards, and  alleviate or eliminate potential accidents by identifying and planning adequate institutions of controls and measures in their respective offices.

Angelou C. Mendoza

Reference:

https://www.dole.gov.ph/php_assets/uploads/2019/04/OSH-Standards-2017-2.pdf