CEBU – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Region VII with the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC-7) and the Occupational Health Nurses Association in the Philippines (OHNAP) – Cebu Chapter is hosting the 5th Summit in the Visayas on November 25-26, 2025 at the Water World Cebu Hotel in Mandaue City, to provide updates to medical practitioners, occupational health nurses, safety and health officers to become more proactive in addressing concerns on health and safety at the workplaces.
“The theme for this year’s Summit is “One Workplace, One Vision: Co-Creating a Safe, Healthy, Decent, and Resilient Workforce”. The department and OSHC partnered with OHNAP because we wanted to emphasize the need to make workplaces be more conscious of responding to the necessity to make all workplaces safe and healthy for all workers,” Atty. Roy Buenafe, DOLE-7 regional director told media at the press conference on November 17 at the DOLE-7 Office.
The Summit expects about 300 or more attendees that are mostly OSH practitioners and other stakeholders in the construction and other industries in Cebu and in the Visayas, said Buenafe, who is a strong advocate of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) and has launched initiatives to curb workplace accidents including the creation of the Barangay Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) Patrol program.
Buenafe added that the BOSH Patrol program
trained barangay officials and Tanods to monitor and report workplace safety
hazards down at the community level in collaboration with the DILG-7. “We have already established BOSH Patrols
in 10 barangays in Cebu City, where SME construction companies operate, and are
not easily monitored by the department,” he noted.
The Barangay OSH Patrol program has gotten the attention of the National OSH Summit in Manila and plans are afoot to replicate it nationwide, Buenafe believed that bringing it to the barangay level is one great step towards achieving Zero accident in workplaces.
OSH situation in the Visayas
Efren Vito, DOLE-7 Tech. Support & Services Division-Labor Relations and Standards Chief bared that Workplace accidents in Cebu and Central Visayas are a pressing concern. There have been 41 work-related accidents in Central Visayas as of June 15, 2025. The construction industry is the leading sector for workplace accidents, accounting for 47% of total recorded incidents in 2024.
“Among the top industries that registered high incidence of accidents are construction, manufacturing, and retail. From January until now, there has already been 10 reported deaths and 34 injuries in workplaces mostly due to human error and neglect of personal safety, electrocution and falls among other causes,” Vito said.
Vito added that common types of accidents at the workplaces include; Falls from Height-workers falling from ladders, scaffolds, or roofs; Falling Objects-materials or tools dropping from elevated areas; Electrocution-contact with live electrical circuits or equipment; Slips, Trips, and Falls-wet floors, obstacles, or poor lighting.
Other injuries also include, Machine-Related Incidents-amputations, fractures, or crushing injuries; Vehicle Accidents-collisions involving forklifts, trucks, or company vehicles; Overexertion-lifting, pushing, or pulling heavy objects; Exposure to Harmful Substances- chemical, fume, or radiation exposure; and Workplace Violence-assaults, threats, or aggressive behavior, DOLE-7 said.
OSH Center Regional Office Head, Engr. Gines
Timosa said that through the 5th OSH Visayas Summit, DOLE-7 and OSH
partners continuously work to promote workplace safety and health, including
initiatives like toolbox meetings and safety clinics.
“Occupational safety and health is still part
of labor cost and employers should know that if they invest on health and
safety, employees become productive that redounds to the benefit of the
companies, their employees and eventually, a safe and healthy communities,” Llane
Concepcion, OHNAP Cebu Chapter President said. (Photos: MBCNewman & DOLE7-FB)
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