MANILA — The state of occupational safety and health in the Philippines is marred by weak enforcement, chronic underreporting, and the exclusion of large segments of the workforce, based on a 2025 independent country report.

Written by Dr. Leonard Javier of the Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD), the report states that while domestic laws and international obligations exist to mandate companies and the government to ensure a safe and dignified workplace, the enforcement is weak and the implementation has various gaps.

“Penalties under RA 11058 are too low to act as deterrents, and criminal accountability for fatal negligence is nonexistent. Informal workers—who make up the majority of the labor force—are excluded from OSH law altogether,” Javier wrote.

RA 11058  refers to the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Law passed in 2018. It requires employers to comply with OSH standards, provide OSH training, and designate safety officers. It also mandates the employers to guarantee the workers’ right to know, right to refuse unsafe work, right to report accidents, and right to personal protective equipment (PPE).

IOHSAD’s independent monitoring shows that at least one worker dies every day from preventable accidents, with the majority of informal workers still excluded from the OSH coverage.

Javier said that the law imposes no criminal liability even in the cases of gross negligence resulting in death. The penalties are limited to administrative fines up to maximum of P100,000 ($1,623.21) per day until the violation is corrected.

The Philippine government ratified the International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 187 or the Promotional Framework for OSH Convention which requires countries to promote continuous improvement of OSH and take active steps to achieve a national system and programmes.

However, the government has not yet ratified the ILO Convention No. 155 or the OSH Convention (OSH) which identifies the employers’ obligations to their employees. Last year, the National Tripartite Industrial Peace Council endorsed the ratification of this convention.

Javier found that the major labor reforms are reactive, having been introduced only after preventable tragedies that expose the failure of the system to protect its workers: “trapped in a pattern of legislation by disaster.”

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)’s self-assessment scheme for the employees was reversed after the Eton Residences Fire in 2011 that killed 10 construction workers from the 30th floor while installing glass panels. The investigations found that workers were operating without proper safety harnesses.

Javier wrote that the enforcement capacity remains limited due to shortage of inspectors. In 2023, DOLE reported that the country has 600 labor inspectors to oversee millions of workplaces nationwide.

Consecutive workplace fires occurred from 2015 to 2017 that drew public outrage inside and outside the country. Among them were the Kentex Factory Fire (2015) that killed 72 workers, the House Technology Industries Fire (2017) injuring hundreds of workers, and the NCCC Mall Fire (2017) that killed 38 people.

DOLE issued a certificate of compliance to the Kentex Manufacturing rubber slipper factory in Valenzuela just eight months before the fire. Javier wrote that no company executives were criminally prosecuted, compensation was delayed, and survivors faced precarious employment.

The House Technology Industries Fire, Javier said, exposed that there is weak enforcement of labor and OSH laws in export processing zones designed to attract foreign investment, even to the point that actual casualties remain uncertain due to media blackout imposed on the journalists covering the situation.

The report noted that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the nationwide OSH crisis in the country, disproportionately affecting healthcare workers with 54,000 infections recorded by 2022 linked to the inadequate PPE, excessive workloads, and weak infection control measures. Workers from across sectors also faced heightened risks due to failure of employers to implement basic protections (e.g. masking, distancing, or paid sick leave).

The classification of gig sector riders as “independent contractors” prompted many companies to exclude them from OSH protections and social benefits despite facing highest occupational risks from the onset of pandemic up to 2025.

“This historical trajectory reveals a persistent cycle: reform follows tragedy, yet systemic weaknesses remain,” Javier wrote. “Emerging risks, including infectious disease exposure, road traffic injuries, and work-related mental health conditions, remain underrecognized within traditional OSH frameworks.”

The report recommended the expansion of OSH coverage to informal and gig workers, end regulatory exemptions, integrate OSH and public health system, and adopt a preventive, rights-based approach to OSH governance which prioritizes hazard elimination and risk reduction over post-disaster compensation. (AMU, DAA)

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