8th Gawad Kaligtasan at Kalusugan and 13th National Ocupational Safety Congress to be held

By Carlo P. Gonzaga

Monday 30th of July 2012

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, July 30 (PIA) -- The Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSCH) is conducting an occupational safety and health (OSH) information campaign and is inviting everyone to join the 8th Gawad Kaligtasan at Kalusugan (GKK) and the 13th National Occupational Safety and Health (NOSH) Congress. The OSCH is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The information campaign, which aims to promote safety and health consciousness among workers in all industries and workplace, will he held in all regions to promote the said events as well as the OSH programs and activities of DOLE and its partners. The 4th stop is Calabarzon.

“Many of the GKK winners come from Region 4A and we would like to see even more this year. It’s really heart-warming to have more GKK winners and contenders as this is a testament to the improving safety and health landscape of our country,” OSHC Executive Director Ma. Teresita S. Cucueco said.

She added that with the help of the DOLE regional offices and OSH networks (OSHNets) in all regions, there are more good occupational safety and health programs and activities being implemented.

Now on its 8th year, the GKK is a national award given by the DOLE every two years to establishments and individuals with the best OSH practices and who can be models for others. The GKK winners may be nominated for the DOLE’s Tripartite Seal of Excellence under the Incentivizing Compliance Program (ECP).

With the theme, “Ensuring enterprise competitiveness through occupational safety and health,” the 13th NOSH Congress aims to convene OSH specialists and practitioners from the government, academe, management and labor sectors and non-government organizations to share their best OSH practices, research papers, posters, documentary films and other OSH materials for discussion and exhibits.

“We are also opening the photography contest for both students and workers who would like to help us inform the public of the benefits of OSH to workplace productivity through photos. We would be accepting entries from all regions and there will be three sets of winners from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” Cucueco said.

The photography contest carries the same theme as the 13th NOSH Congress. Deadline for submission of entries is on September 30. Winners will be chosen based on the relevance of the photo to the theme, clarity, and originality. A cash prize of P10,000; P7,000; and P5,000 will be given to the first, second, and third placers from the three island groups.

Nomination and registration forms for both 8th GKK and 13th NOSH Congress may be downloaded from the OSHC website: www.osch.dole.gov.ph. (CPG-PIA4A/OSHC)