The Institute for Occupational Health and Safety Development (IOHSAD) has called on the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to conduct an immediate and independent probe into business process outsourcing (BPO) worksites affected by Typhoons Tino and Uwan.
This comes after the BPO Industry Employees Network (BIEN) filed a formal request for a labor inspection with the DOLE on Tuesday, 11 November, seeking an urgent investigation into how BPO companies responded to Super Typhoon Uwan and their alleged repeated violations of workers' rights under the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Law.
According to BIEN’s documentation, workers reported being forced to report for duty despite the absence of safe transportation, widespread flooding, and hazardous travel conditions.
Others cited penalties, wage deductions, or threats of disciplinary action for failing to report to work during the super typhoon.
Numerous accounts also revealed the absence of comprehensive emergency preparedness measures, inadequate OSH risk assessments, and a lack of genuine concern for workers’ welfare and safety.
IOHSAD condemned the recurring violations, emphasizing that they represent not only a breach of the OSH Law but also a fundamental disregard for human life and dignity.
“Forcing workers to work amid disasters and unsafe conditions is an outright violation of their legal and moral right to safety,” said Nadia De Leon, IOHSAD Executive Director.
“The failure of employers and the government to ensure workers’ protection during such events reflects the persistent weakness of labor enforcement mechanisms and the alarming impunity enjoyed by violators," De Leon added.
Despite previous incidents — such as the documented OSH violations following the Cebu earthquake earlier this year — no company or official has been held accountable.
IOHSAD stressed that the absence of strict enforcement fosters a systemic culture where economic interests consistently outweigh workers’ health and safety.
With that, IOHSAD and BIEN jointly called on the DOLE to conduct immediate and independent inspections of BPO worksites affected by the typhoon; hold accountable employers who violate the OSH Law and endanger workers during disasters; and guarantee the protection of employees who exercise their right to report and refuse unsafe work from any form of threat, retaliation, or loss of income.
IOHSAD further underscored that the current framework of labor advisories and administrative fines is insufficient to deter OSH rights violations.
“The OSH Law must be made truly enforceable. Nominal fines cannot make powerful corporations respect workers’ lives. It is time to criminalize OSH standard violations and impose stronger penalties on employers who put workers in harm’s way,” De Leon said.
“Workers are not machines to be discarded. They are human beings with families, rights, and lives that must be valued above corporate profits. Protecting workers’ safety should never be conditional — it is a fundamental obligation.”