25 June, 2008Three workers have died in the last two weeks at the shipyard at the Subic Bay in the Philippines. The IMF will raise issue of safety and health in shipbuilding at the forthcoming ILO World Congress on Safety and Health at Work.
PHILIPPINES: Three workers died in separate incidents this month while working in the shipyard at the Subic Bay in the Philippines.
The press agency Central Luzon Desk reported that Mario Atrero, 52, an employee of Hanjin Construction Corp. Ltd. (HCCL), was hit and killed by a steel frame that collapsed due to strong winds on June 20. Earlier, Oliver Labay, 32, died on June 15 when a one-tonne bulkhead for a cargo ship hit and pinned him and Rafael Careg, died on June 11 after the pickup truck he was riding in was hit by a crane boom truck. Both Labay and Careg were working at the shipyard of Korean firm Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Philippines Inc (HHIC-Phil).
HHIC-Phil is engaged in manufacturing ships and HCCL in building the shipyard and other structures at the site. Construction activities and shipbuilding work is happening at the same time at the site.
The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) served a cease and desist work order on HCCL after the most recent fatal accident, ceasing all construction activities at the site.
At the IMF Shipbuilding Action Group meeting, which took place in Singapore in April 2008, participants expressed serious concerns over the situation with health and safety at workplaces in the shipbuilding industry.
The IMF Shipbuilding Action Group decided it will use the opportunity of the XVIII ILO World Congress on Safety and Health at Work taking place this year on June 29 - July 2 in Korea to try and meet representatives of governments, shipbuilding employers and the ILO in order to discuss the issue, reverse the current system and to strengthen health and safety regulation systems so as to defend effectively the right to life and health of shipyard workers.