FOREWORD The Occupational Safety and Health Standards was formulated in 1978 in compliance with the constitutional mandate to safeguard the worker’s social and economic well-being as well as his physical safety and health. Adopted through the tested democratic machinery of tripartism, the 1978 Standards is considered as a landmark in Philippine labor and social legislation. The advent of industrialization and the continuing introduction of technological innovations in our country today have, however, correspondingly increased the number and types of occupational hazards that our workers are exposed to. Viewed against this backdrop, it became imperative that the Standards be revised to make it truly responsive to the workers’ needs. Joint efforts exerted by the Bureau of Working Conditions, the ILO Manila Office and the tripartite sectors bore fruit in August 1989 when the revisions were finally approved by the Secretary of Labor and Employment pursuant to his authority under Article 162 of the Labor Code of the Philippines. With the latest improvements in the Standards, all establishments covered will now be provided with a better tool for promoting and maintaining a safe and conducive working environment. I therefore urge all sectors concerned-whether they be in labor, management, government or the academe-to extend their full support to achieve the noble objectives of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards.
RUBEN D. TORRES Secretary 03 July 1990
