Risks to employees’ health cited in BSP asbestos cleanup Philippine Daily Inquirer 10:33 pm | Friday, December 16th, 2011
ALU Associated Labor Unions
The Associated Labor Unions (ALU) appealed to the labor department to
intervene and save thousands of central bank employees from an ongoing
removal and disposal of asbestos activity at the Bangko Sentral ng
Pilipinas (BSP) building in Manila.
“This is to bring to your attention and immediate intervention the
possible exposure of asbestos disposal workers and the thousands of
employees of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in Manila on the improper
removal of asbestos from the building,” said Gerard Seno, ALU
national vice president and coordinator of ALU advocacy Ban Asbestos
Philippines, in his letter to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz and BSP
governor Amando Tetangco Jr. dated Dec. 12, 2011.
Witnesses accounts, still pictures and video of workers on-site taken
during the renovation and repair work at BSP showed blatant disposal
protocol violations of Safeco Environmental Services Inc., the letter
said.
Some of the health and safety violations identified were: Workers
doing actual removal and disposal work were not wearing proper and
sufficient personal, protective equipment to protect them from primary
and secondary exposure to asbestos dust; the two sites where the
abatement activities took place were devoid of enclosures and air
devices that would ensure that asbestos dust was confined within;
plastic containers and vacuum cleaner used in the procedure were sub-
standard and the labelling of asbestos and asbestos-containing debris
was deplorable.
Safeco should be held liable for these serious safety lapses that
gravely endanger the lives of many, Seno said.