DOLE-7 launches BOSH Patrol, 1st in PH

CEBU CITY – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region VII launched the very first Barangay Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) Patrol in the country to promote the culture of safety and health practices in workplaces, with the increase of work-related accidents in Cebu particularly in the construction and manufacturing industries.

“Workplace safety and health is everybody’s responsibility. I’m saddened at the spike of work-related accidents, reaching up to 42 incidents including two deaths.  One or two deaths due to accidents should never be the norm nor considered negligible by anyone because workers should never be injured nor die while working to earn a living for their families,” DOLE-7 regional director Roy Buenafe said in his opening message to the participants.

More than 50 participants composed of barangay tanods, health workers, and councilors from the 10 barangays in Cebu where 1 or 2 incidents of workplace accidents occurred, attended the two-day Basic Occupational Safety and Health Training for Safety Officers on June 30-July 1 at Mezzo Hotel, Cebu City.

These participants come from barangays Lahug, Kamputhaw, Capitol Site, Guadalupe, Mabolo, Apas, Mambaling, Inayawan, Banilad, and Talamban who pledge commitment to help make workplaces in their barangay safe and healthy for workers. 

Buenafe said, Engr. Gines Timosa and his staff from the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) in the region gave the training that included vigilance and awareness on workplace accidents and unhealthy practices. 

Part of the required training output is the Re-Entry Plan of trainees that is needed for them to understand what to do when they return to their respective barangays. TESDA’s Technical Services and Support Division-Labor Relations and Standards (TSSD-LRS) under the leadership of Dr. Efren Vito helped organize the event.

“You are expected to call the attention of those who have unsafe and unhealthy practices at the workplaces, including those informal workers engaged in “pakyaw system”, Buenafe told the BOSH Patrollers. (Photos: DOLE-7)