REPORTING WORKPLACE INCIDENTS, OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS OR STRUCTURAL HAZARDS
If you are an employer in a workplace you need to notify the DOLE, your workplace health and safety committee or OSH OFFICER, and when:
- Someone is killed or critically injured
- One of your workers has an occupational illness
- There is an accident, explosion or fire, or there is an incident of workplace violence and someone is injured and can't do their usual work or needs medical attention
- There is an accident or unexpected event on a construction site or in a mine or mining plant, even if no one is hurt
- You do not own the workplace and the health and safety committee or OSH OFFICER makes you aware of a potential structural inadequacy of the building that could be a hazard to workers
How to know if an injury is critical
- The Department of Labor and Employment considers an injury "critical" if it is of a serious nature that:
- Places life in jeopardy
- Produces unconsciousness
- Results in substantial loss of blood
- Involves the fracture of a leg or arm, including a wrist, hand, ankle, foot or multiple fingers or toes
- Involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand, foot or multiple fingers or toes
- Consists of burns to a major portion of the body
- Causes the loss of sight in an eye
How to decide if a workplace hazard caused the critical injury or death
As an employer, you must assess each critical injury or death at your workplace to determine if the hazard that caused the incident could pose an ongoing risk to worker health and safety. If there isn't a reasonable connection, you don't have to report it.
The definition of "workplace" in the RA 11058 or Occupational Safety and Health Law includes any place where a worker is performing their duties.
Who to notify
If someone is critically injured or killed at your workplace and there is a reasonable connection between the hazard that led to the critical injury or death and workers' health and safety, you must do all of the following:
- Call 1349 to report the incident to DOLE. You can make a report to this number at any time of day.
- Call or tell the health and safety committee or OSH OFFICER about the incident.
- Notify the DEPARTMENT OF LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT in writing, within 48 hours of the incident.
Make sure to:
- Address the notice to "Attention: Director"
- Email or fax it, to the nearest DOLE REGIONAL OFFICE closest to the workplace where the incident happened
