125 entries vie for the 10th Gawad Kaligtasan at Kalusugan
The Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC) will once again award Champions on safety and health this 2016 with the 10th Gawad Kaligtasan at Kalusugan (GKK)
“For the first time, the GKK will be two-tiered. We will have the Regional GKK Champions who will then compete for being the National GKK Champions. We have also opened a separate category for government offices. This year we have noted many new contenders and we are pleased to see a growing number of entries from the micro-enterprises or informal sector category as well as entries from the government sector,” said OSHC Executive Director Ma.Teresita S. Cucueco, MD, CESO III.
A total of 125 entries from four categories: establishments, individuals, micro-enterprises and government offices across the country have submitted their documents to join the search for the winners of the GKK.
The GKK is a biennial award given by the DOLE to companies and individuals with outstanding occupational safety and health practices, programs, innovations and contributions. It is one of the five good housekeeping seals under the DOLE Incentivizing Compliance Program which aims to encourage companies to voluntarily comply with general labor laws and occupational safety and health standards.
For the new, two-tiered scheme, the DOLE Regional Offices provided the OSHC with a list of companies which were issued a Certificate of Compliance on both General Labor and Occupational Safety and Health Standards as well as individuals, micro-enterprises and government offices with notable achievements on OSH. A total of 288 companies were invited for the establishment category, 47 for the individual category, seven for the micro-enterprise category and three for the government category.
As of press time, 80 companies, 35 individuals, and all entries from the microenterprise and government sector categories have confirmed their intention to join. Initial assessment is on-going in all regions. Those who will pass the document review and initial screening to be conducted by the Regional GKK Secretariat composed of personnel from the OSHC and Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) Regional Extension Units and DOLE Regional Offices will then be scheduled for a regional validation.
For the regional validation, a team of experts from OSHC, ECC, DOLE Regional Offices, as well as representatives from the employers’ and workers’ groups will visit company premises to confirm if the safety and health programs and contributions mentioned in submitted documents are indeed in place. Results of the validation will be deliberated upon by the Regional Selection Committee chaired by the DOLE Regional Director to determine the Regional GKK Champions
The Regional GKK Champions will then undergo the last phase – the final judging and deliberation to vie or the National GKK. A Board of Judges composed of representatives from the employers’ and workers’ groups, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth), professional groups, the academe, and DOLE offices will rate the contenders based on best OSH practices and programs.
END/DJ Romero
Any question on this release? Please contact Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco, MD, CESO III, executive director, Occupational Safety and Health Center, North Avenue corner Agham Road, Diliman, Quezon City with telephone numbers 929-6036 to 39 and e-mail address: oshcenter@dole.gov.ph
