Normin posts 77.6% in workplace safety

TheMonitorMindanaoToday.com | Normin posts 77.6% in workplace safety

By: Uriel Quilinguing

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Not all the 2,979 establishments in Northern Mindanao that the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) surveyed last year were found safe and healthy places, thus exposing workers to accidents and health risks.

Statistical Specialist Aldemar Lagarbe of PSA Region 10 disclosed this in a forum on Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at Chali Resort here, although employers manifested “commitment of keeping workplaces safe and healthy” with 77.6-percent compliance to mandated standards.

Lagarbe said only establishments that employed 10 or more workers, involving 179,600 persons, were included in the PSA Survey on Occupational Safety and Health Practices and Occupational Injuries and Diseases (OSHP-OID).

Republic Act No. 11058, the law that set in 2018 the Occupational Safety and Health Standards (OSHS) penalizes violators with P100,000 per day and that collections out of this provision shall be used to fund workplace safety and health programs.

“The data generated from the (PSA) survey will form a significant part of our policy and program recommendations to improve the OSH compliance,” said Regional Manager Leizl Ann Marie Lee of the OSHC REU 10.

INJURIES, ILLNESSES

In another forum on Wednesday, December 3, Stella Mae Obice, head of the Employees Compensation Commission Regional Extension Unit 10 (ECC REU 10), reported that they had processed 157 benefit claims of workers, mostly work-related injuries and illnesses.

Obice said they had paid over P1.6 million to the 157 last year and that, in the first semester this year, they had already rolled out P280 thousand to 25 beneficiaries. They paid P5.3 million for 519 claims in 2023 including those who caught the coronavirus and succumbed to it during the pandemic.

Also, the ECC REU 10 is currently processing the claims of 12 persons with work-related disabilities for physical restoration services, skills training, livelihood assistance under the ECC’s Katulong at Gabay sa Mangggawang may Kapansanan (KaGabay) program.

Beneficiaries of ECC benefits are private sector workers who were enrolled with the Social Security System and sea-based Overseas Filipino Workers, as well as government sector employees who Government service Insurance System members.

ECC benefits include loss-of-income, medical services, appliances and supplies, carers’ allowance, rehabilitation services, death and funeral assistance. Claims have a three-year prescriptive period. [Uriel Quilinguing]

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