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1 Title: A Case Report on the Occupational Safety and Health Perspectives in the Philippine Television and Broadcasting Industry Research Team: Dr. Darryl Lucian S. Bautista 1 , Jasmin D.C. Rivera 1 , Dr. Reynold Sta Ana 1 , Faith Carmela A. Relente 1 , Engr. Melba Marasigan 2 , Engr. Abyguel Mercullo 3 1 Health Control Division; 2 Environment Control Division; 3 Safety Control Division Occupational Safety and Health Center INTRODUCTION The Philippine media industry as a whole is undeniably a powerful system of communication and information dissemination. It is also the major source of entertainment for the Filipino masses since the shows that the entertainment industry has been producing primarily reflect the current situation and experiences of its target audience. Inside and outside the country, we are widely known for being avid fans of actors and actresses in movies and primetime shows that in 1999 we became the 4th largest film industry after producing 140 films in a year (Francisco, de Dios, Barrios and Tijam, Jr., 1998). With the advent of technology, more and more Filipinos are now able to watch television programs and movies that pique their interest. The current trend is that the audience can now access media content via TV screens and online simultaneously. On December 2014, it was reported that the TV viewing habits of audience in major cities nationwide increased from 93% (2013) to 95% based on the Nielsen Cross-Platform Report (“8 in 10 Filipinos Consume Media Content through Multiple Screens,” 2014). In a country where there is a greater demand for audio-visual forms of entertainment such as India, their entertainment industry is expected to have an average compounded annual growth rate of 13.9% by 2019 (“FICCI -KPMG Indian Media and Entert ainment Industry,” 2015). Guidelines for safety and health specifically for the workers in the entertainment industry were already developed and promulgated by institutions and organizations such as the Contract Service Administration Trust Fund in the United States of America (“What is CSATF?”, 2008), Canada Ministry of Labor in Canada (“Safety Guidelines for the Film and Television Industry in Ontario,” 2009), and Health and Safety Executive in the United Kingdom (“Film, TV and Broadcasting,” n.d.) to help prevent all kinds of accidents in the workplace. Guidelines pertaining to safety and health in the entertainment industry are strictly implemented in developed countries. In UK, for example, an average fine of £9,528 was collected in 2013 for non-compliance with their Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (“Insights into Health and Safety,” 2014).

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Page 1: Title: Television and Broadcasting Industry , Engr. Melba ... 2016... · 1 Title: A Case Report on the Occupational Safety and Health Perspectives in the Philippine Television and

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Title: A Case Report on the Occupational Safety and Health Perspectives in the Philippine

Television and Broadcasting Industry

Research Team:

Dr. Darryl Lucian S. Bautista1, Jasmin D.C. Rivera

1, Dr. Reynold Sta Ana

1, Faith Carmela A.

Relente1, Engr. Melba Marasigan

2, Engr. Abyguel Mercullo

3

1Health Control Division;

2Environment Control Division;

3Safety Control Division

Occupational Safety and Health Center

INTRODUCTION

The Philippine media industry as a whole is undeniably a powerful system of

communication and information dissemination. It is also the major source of entertainment

for the Filipino masses since the shows that the entertainment industry has been producing

primarily reflect the current situation and experiences of its target audience. Inside and

outside the country, we are widely known for being avid fans of actors and actresses in

movies and primetime shows that in 1999 we became the 4th largest film industry after

producing 140 films in a year (Francisco, de Dios, Barrios and Tijam, Jr., 1998).

With the advent of technology, more and more Filipinos are now able to watch

television programs and movies that pique their interest. The current trend is that the

audience can now access media content via TV screens and online simultaneously. On

December 2014, it was reported that the TV viewing habits of audience in major cities

nationwide increased from 93% (2013) to 95% based on the Nielsen Cross-Platform Report

(“8 in 10 Filipinos Consume Media Content through Multiple Screens,” 2014).

In a country where there is a greater demand for audio-visual forms of entertainment

such as India, their entertainment industry is expected to have an average compounded annual

growth rate of 13.9% by 2019 (“FICCI-KPMG Indian Media and Entertainment Industry,”

2015). Guidelines for safety and health specifically for the workers in the entertainment

industry were already developed and promulgated by institutions and organizations such as

the Contract Service Administration Trust Fund in the United States of America (“What is

CSATF?”, 2008), Canada Ministry of Labor in Canada (“Safety Guidelines for the Film and

Television Industry in Ontario,” 2009), and Health and Safety Executive in the United

Kingdom (“Film, TV and Broadcasting,” n.d.) to help prevent all kinds of accidents in the

workplace. Guidelines pertaining to safety and health in the entertainment industry are

strictly implemented in developed countries. In UK, for example, an average fine of £9,528

was collected in 2013 for non-compliance with their Health and Safety at Work Act 1974

(“Insights into Health and Safety,” 2014).

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SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Locally, issues on general labor and safety & health of workers in the entertainment

industry have been gaining public attention. These issues include employees’ call for work

regularization (Bernal, 2015), consecutive premature deaths of directors (San Diego, 2016;

Viray, 2016), and violence experienced by bit players during taping (“Former Forevermore

Talent”, 2016). It is for these reasons that there is a need to evaluate the prevailing work

practices in the entertainment industry in order to mitigate the effects of possible risks or

hazards which prevent employees from working in safe and healthy working environment.

The practice of safety and health in the workplace from the viewpoint of stakeholders will

serve as baseline information for the determination of the Occupational Safety and Health

(OSH) profile which may lead to the development of programs for the improvement of the

working conditions for all workers in the television and broadcasting industry.

OBJECTIVES

In order to determine the current practice of OSH in the television and broadcasting

industry, the study was performed based on the following objectives:

1. Identify the working conditions and practices peculiar to the industry

2. Determine the existence of OSH policies and programs formulated and

implemented by the companies engaged in the industry

3. Provide recommendations for the conduct of SAVE and future studies

METHODOLOGY

Pre-Assessment Activities. A series of meetings and consultations with stakeholders from the

Department of Labor and Employment (Bureau of Working Conditions, Institute for Labor

Studies, Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns, Legal Service, DOLE NCR-Quezon City

Field Office), the Broadcasting Industry Tripartite Council and two major Television

Networks were conducted. This was done to have an overview of the work processes

involved in the industry.

Tools. A survey tool was constructed, with the aid of the OSH component from the Labor

Laws Compliance Assessment (LLCA) and OSHC’s Gawad Kaligtasan at Kalusugan (GKK)

Checklists to assess the general OSH profile of the television and broadcasting industry. The

LLCA checklist is a tool used by the Bureau of Working Conditions (BWC) to assess a

company’s compliance to standards concerning general labor and occupational safety and

health (DOLE, 2014). The Institute for Labor Studies (ILS), the lead organizer of the

dialogue, together with the BWC and Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns (BWSC),

furnished its own survey tool in assessing the general labor practices and special concerns

and the results of which can be found in their research.

Collaboration. A letter of invitation to participate in the Roundtable Discussion was

developed by the organizers distributed to the networks coursed through the Broadcast

Industry Tripartite Council Secretariat. A team composed of the technical staff of OSHC,

ILS, BWSC and BWC collaborated during data collection. This was done thru a 1-day

workshop with the respondents of the study. The OSHC focused on inputs on the

occupational safety and health of the respondents. The output of the workshop was

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subsequently integrated and analyzed qualitatively. During the preliminary focus group

discussion, several respondents have expressed their unwillingness to disclose information

(that was beyond the data they have presented in the group) due to the presence of their

competitors. The respondents were asked by the organizer on how they would like the

discussion to be organized in such a way that they will find it comfortable enough to share

information with the facilitators. The organizer suggested simultaneous roundtable

discussions per group and the participants agreed to their suggestion. Each group consisted of

a set of facilitators and a company’s management representatives, for a total of 3

management groups (since one company walked out after the preliminary discussion and

before the start of the RTD) and the 4th group consisted of facilitators and worker

representatives. All 4 RTDs, though conducted separately, were conducted within a single

function room and the respondents could see the other participants and hear their responses

(though not clearly).

Participants. The Quezon City Field Office disseminated a letter of invitation to major

networks to attend the roundtable discussion. The participants of the study were management

representatives who are Human Resource personnel (HR), Safety Officers (SO) and workers

of four (4) television and broadcasting networks who attended the Round Table Discussion

facilitated by DOLE staff from the Bureau of Working Conditions, Bureau of Workers with

Special Concerns and Occupational Safety and Health Center. Network 1 was represented by

their HR personnel and Safety Officer, Networks 2 and 3 were represented by their HR

personnel, while Network 4 was represented by a worker. The representatives were grouped

into four. Each of the 3 groups consisted of a set of DOLE staff and management

representatives from the networks. The fourth group consisted of DOLE staff and workers’

representatives from different networks. Using the constructed checklist on OSH, industry

representatives from each group were interviewed by one facilitator from OSHC in the last

part of the roundtable discussion. A verbal informed consent from each participant was

secured prior to the interview. Due to limited time, only the responses of the workers’

representative of Network 4 were collected.

In the interest of brevity and anonymity, we following codes were used to refer to the

representatives of each network: “MR1” to refer to the Management Representative of

Network 1, “SOR1” to refer to the Safety Officer Representative of Network 1, “MR2” to

refer to the Management Representative of Network 2, “MR3” to refer to the Management

Representative of Network 3, and “WR4” to refer to the Workers’ Representative of Network

4.

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RESULTS

The respondents were interviewed by the OSHC staff assigned in their respective

groups using the guided questionnaire on OSH. Due to the limited time allotment, the

collected data were only based on the Network representatives’ knowledge at that time on

their respective companies’ existing OSH policies, programs and services, specifically on the

company’s (1) Safety and Health Committee; (2) Occupational Health Personnel; (3) Safety

Services, Programs and Policies; (4) Occupational Health Services, Programs and Policies;

and (6) Other OSH Concerns. To determine their knowledge of the parameters presented, the

researchers coded the participants’ responses into Yes, No and No Answer using the following

criteria:

The responses of the network representatives were summarized in the succeeding tables and

discussions below:

Table 1. Company safety and health committee according to the representatives

SAFETY & HEALTH COMMITTEE

NETWORK 1 NETWORK 2

(MR2) NETWORK 3

(MR3) NETWORK 4

(WR4) MR1 SO1

1. Safety and Health Policy

YES YES YES No answer NO

2. Organized Safety and Health Committee

YES YES YES YES NO

3. The Safety and Health Committee composed of the Management, HR, Safety Officer and Workers’ Representative

YES YES No answer YES NO

4. Safety and Health Committee conduct regular meetings

YES No

answer No answer YES NO

5. Safety Officer assigned in every movie/TV project

YES YES YES YES NO

Safety and Health Committee. Most of the respondents acknowledged that there is an

existing safety and health committee in their respective networks. Table 1 shows that

management representatives confirmed that the committee is organized and that they have

safety officers assigned in every project. In terms of knowledge of policy, composition and

conduct of regular meetings, three networks were not sure if these parameters exist or were

•They have the parameter being asked YES

•They do not have the parameter being asked NO

•They are not sure about the parameter being asked

NO ANSWER

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being done. There was discordance with the accounts of the safety officer and the

management representative of Network 1 on the conduct of regular meetings of their

committee. The management representative affirmed that regular meetings are being

conducted while the safety officer was uncertain if meetings were conducted regularly. As

for the response of the workers’ representative from Network 4, there was no existing safety

and health committee in the company.

Table 2. Safety services, programs and policies according to the representatives

Safety Services, Programs and Policies. With regard to the safety services, programs and

policies implemented in the networks, Table 2 has shown different accounts per network. A

more heterogeneous set of responses were observed. The variation in accounts show what

safety practices are implemented per network and the diversity reflects each network’s

priority in practicing safety measures. There is again discordance in the accounts of the

safety officer and management representative of Network 1 as to the conduct of safety

SAFETY SERVICES, PROGRAMS AND

POLICIES

NETWORK 1 NETWORK 2

(MR2) NETWORK 3

(MR3) NETWORK 4

(WR4) MR1 SO1

1. Conduct of fire safety training

YES YES No answer YES NO

2. Trained personnel on fire and emergency evacuation procedures

YES YES YES YES No answer

3. Conduct of emergency evacuation and fire drills

YES YES YES YES YES

4. Safety induction is given before the start of work

YES No answer No answer YES No answer

5. Procedural guidelines in reporting incidents/hazards

YES YES No answer YES YES

In-house reporting system

YES

YES No answer No answer

YES

DOLE reportorial procedures

YES NO No answer No answer NO

6. Appropriate safety training for talents/workers involved in stunts

YES No

answer No answer YES No answer

7. An established guideline for cancellation of production in case an unforeseen event happens during production

No answer No answer No answer No answer No answer

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induction prior to the start of work while most of the accounts of the workers’ representative

from Network 4 on the parameters asked were unsure. Fire safety trainings and conduction

of fire and emergency evacuation drills are common among the networks with trained

personnel to conduct the activities. However, most respondents were not sure whether safety

trainings are also conducted among those talents or workers involved in stunts during

production while all of the respondents have neither confirmed nor deny the existence of an

established guideline for cancellation of production in case an unforeseen event happens.

Procedural guidelines in reporting accidents, illnesses and hazards especially on reportorial

procedures to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) were either non-existent or

not being implemented at all.

Table 3. Occupational safety and health personnel according to the representatives

Occupational Safety and Health Personnel. Table 3 shows the availability of occupational

health personnel among the respondent networks. All management representatives, with the

exception of Network 3, conveyed that the occupational health personnel present in their

respective networks include first aiders, nurses and physicians. The management

representative of Network 3 were unsure if they have a physician in their workplace. For the

workers’ representative, however, it was noted that only the nurse and the physician are the

occupational health personnel present in their workplace.

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH PERSONNEL

NETWORK 1 NETWORK 2

(MR2) NETWORK 3

(MR3) NETWORK 4

(WR4) MR1 SO1

1. At least one (1) First Aider is present throughout the course of production

YES YES YES YES NO

2. The First Aider(s) is/are trained under Philippine Red Cross

No answer YES YES No answer NO

3. A first aid kit is always available in the workplace

YES YES YES YES NO

4. First Aider(s) have immediate access to the kit

YES YES YES YES NO

5. Nurse YES YES YES YES YES

6. Physician YES YES YES No answer YES

7. Safety Officer YES YES YES YES No answer

8. Assigned personnel to accompany employees in case of emergencies

YES YES YES YES No answer

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Table 4. Occupational health services, programs and policies according to the representatives

amedical history and physical examination, complete blood count, chest X-ray, urinalysis, fecalysis bdone after medical treatment/ operation/confinement cdone whenever a talent/worker needs to be transferred to a different nature of work/area/division (e.g. from office work to field work) ddone whenever a talent/worker resigns or retires from work

Occupational Health Services, Programs and Policies. Table 4 shows the provided services

as well as health policies and programs per respondent networks. Pre-employment and

annual medical examinations are being done. Medical consultations on workers having

medical problems and fitness to work examinations are also done and workers are informed

of the results although there was a dissonance between the accounts of the management

representative and the safety officer of Network 1 where the management representative

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES, PROGRAMS AND

POLICIES

NETWORK 1 NETWORK 2

(MR2) NETWORK 3

(MR3) NETWORK 4

(WR4) MR1 SO1

1. Pre-employment examination for all new talents/workers

YES YES YES YES YES

2. Pre-employment examination

includes all necessary examsa YES YES YES YES YES

3. Follow-up exams on talents/workers having medical problems

YES No answer YES YES No answer

4. Fitness-to-work examinationsb YES No answer YES YES No answer

5. Workers undergo periodic examinations

YES YES YES YES YES

6. Workers undergo special medical examinations

YES No answer YES No answer No answer

7. Transfer examinationsc NO NO NO No answer NO

8. Separation examinationsd NO NO NO No answer NO

9. Talents/workers are informed about the results of their health examinations

YES YES YES YES YES

10. Health education and counselling

YES No answer YES YES No answer

11. Immunization program YES YES YES YES YES

12. Medical recordkeeping YES YES YES YES YES

13. Ergonomics program YES No answer NO YES No answer

14. Drug-Free workplace policy and program

YES YES YES YES YES

15. HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control

NO No answer No answer No answer No answer

16. Hepatitis B Prevention and Control

NO No answer YES YES No answer

17. Tuberculosis Prevention and Control

NO No answer YES YES No answer

18. Smoke-free workplace policy and program

YES No answer YES YES No answer

19. Wellness program YES YES YES YES YES

20. Job hazards identification NO No answer YES No answer No answer

21. Procedures for reporting harassment in the workplace and counselling

YES YES YES YES No answer

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affirmed while the safety officer was unsure of the provision of the said services. The

workers’ representative from Network 4 also had the same account as that of the safety

officer. Special, transfer and separation medical examinations were not commonly provided

among the respondent networks. As for the health policies and programs implemented, it was

observed that immunization, wellness and drug- free workplace are the most commonly

provided programs while ergonomics, HIV and AIDS, Tuberculosis and Hepatitis B

programs are the least furnished programs.

Most Common Accidents and Illnesses. Accidents and illnesses that were reported according

to SOR1 were Bell’s palsy, aneurysm, vehicular and electrical accidents, and lastly, stress

and anxiety which are evident especially in the newsroom. WR4 identified stress, anxiety and

miscarriage as the most often health-related issues experienced by workers especially in their

news department. For accidents, all networks provide hazard or risk pay for their employees

depending on assignment and calamity pay for those assigned to places under calamity. The

most commonly reported illness is the flu according to MR2 despite their provision of flu

vaccines for their workers. Only MR1 and MR3 claimed that accidents and illnesses are

reported to DOLE, respectively.

DISCUSSIONS

The television and broadcast industry is part of an industry generally known as the

Creative Industry. It is a unique industry that operates in a different environment and context

from that of traditional industries (Oughton, 2011). As such, it presents diverse types of

occupational hazards. Although occupational safety and health is generally competently

managed in established enterprises, the intricate set-up of the industry may contribute to

erratic implementation of OSH and at worst, non-existence of its practice. The importance to

determine if OSH is adequately implemented and managed by enterprises in this industry is

very clear and there are very robust reasons why it is so.

These include:

● Increase in industry sustainability; ● Enhanced well-being of industry practitioners and stakeholders; ● Improved corporate governance and due diligence; ● Decreased potential for possible future litigations; ● Provision of effective defences for employers, managers and workers in the event of

prosecution; ● Minimized potential for bad publicity due to work-related accidents, injuries and

illnesses; ● Increased morale and productivity of workers; ● Reduction in lost time and absenteeism caused by injury and illness; ● Reduction in the loss of experienced and skilled practitioners through injury, illness

and possible premature retirement; ● Enhanced potential for business profits by lowering production and overhead costs ● Increase in industry compliance with the national occupational safety and health

standards; and ● Provision of a working environment where industry practitioners understand that

their well-being and skills are valued.

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The respondents were asked with questions pertaining to OSH practices implemented

in their respective networks. The data gathered were based solely on the responses of the

respondents and their answers were determined whether OSH parameters asked are present,

absent or lacking in terms of implementation. The data was analyzed by comparing the

accounts of respondents who represent the management side of the networks with the

accounts of respondents who represent the workers’ side.

Methodological issue affecting the disclosure of respondents

During the preliminary focus group discussion, several respondents from the

management side have expressed their unwillingness to disclose information due to the

presence of their competitors. The respondents agreed to the suggestion of the organizer to

conduct the RTD in 4 groups.

Basing on Surveillance Theory (Noris in Simon, 2005), the participant’s responses in

a research may or may not reflect the actual reality of the topic being investigated which

might be due to the participant’s awareness that he/she is being observed by a higher or

dominant individual/s. The respondents might have had this institutionalized perception about

the capability of 2 dominant groups present in the room: (1) DOLE as an institution which

can reprimand non-compliance to labor laws and (2) their own superior/s or colleague/s who

was/were aware of their presence and may unintentionally hear their responses (especially the

negative ones) about their company, workplace or co-workers. Hence, the responses may

have been influenced by the subconscious fear of being watched over or the possibility of

being reprimanded in case they would have had to disclose sensitive information about the

company. Another factor to be considered is the possibility of having participants in the

discussion who, in some of the questions, gave biased responses in the forms of under-

reporting bad (or lack of) workplace practices or exaggerating good (or presence even if there

was actually none) workplace practices in order to prevent negative consequences. Such

circumstances would be examples of Social Desirability Bias, a type of response bias which

can affect data validity (King and Bruner, 2000).

Some management representatives’ initial unwillingness or resistance to provide

essential information about the company they work for can also be explained by the social

psychological phenomena called Reactance Theory developed by Jack Brehm in 1966. The

theory suggests that people, in general, have this perception that they possess certain

freedoms to do as they please and when these freedom-based thoughts or actions are

threatened by an internal or external source, they begin to feel certain stimulation in the form

of reactance. This negative feeling of reactance “is an unpleasant motivational arousal that

emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their free behaviors” and serves as “a

motivator to restore one’s freedom” (Steindl, 2015; p. 205). The management representatives

may have felt a threat on their independence in the industry (i.e. freely operating without

DOLE supervision since time immemorial) which resulted to their expression of resistance

through non-disclosure of information. All of the issues that surfaced, including the lack of

appropriate respondents attending the discussion, may explain why the representatives failed

to give answers to very important components of safety and health policies and programs.

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Status of Development and Implementation of OSH Policies and Programs

It is stated by Rule 1040 of the Philippine Occupational Safety and Health Standards,

as amended (OSHS), that the health and safety committee plays a very important role in

eliminating work hazards and as such its primary function is to plan, make policies and

develop programs in all matters pertaining to safety and health in the workplace. It is also

tasked to make sure that these policies and programs be implemented and applied to all

sectors of the workplace, from the management to the rank and file workers. The

Management representatives of this study confirmed the existence of a functioning safety and

health committee but the workers’ representative indicated otherwise.

The importance of having occupational health personnel in the workplace cannot be

excluded. In fact, the primary function of these personnel is to provide occupational health

services in the workplace. Rule 1961.02 of the OSHS defines these services as “services

entrusted with essentially preventive functions and responsible for advising employers, the

workers, and their representatives, in the workplace of the requirements for establishing and

maintaining a safe and healthy environment to facilitate optimal physical and mental health in

relation to work, and ensure adaptation of work to the capabilities of workers in the light of

their state of physical and mental health”. It was not determined if these personnel, except

for first aiders, have the appropriate training and qualifications to conduct occupational health

services but nevertheless, the presence of these personnel on most responses of the

representatives would mean that occupational health services must consequently be provided.

Rule 1961.03 of the OSHS requires that the following basic functions in the provision of

occupational health services must be implemented:

● Surveillance of work environment and risk assessment; ● Health surveillance and health examinations; ● Advice on preventive and control measures; ● Health education and promotion, as well as promotion of work ability; ● Organize, and maintain first aid and emergency treatment; ● Participation in analysis of occupational accidents and occupational diseases; and ● Record keeping

Recording and reporting accidents and illnesses at work is an important consideration

in the practice of OSH. This system, according to the responses of the representatives, is

being implemented by their respective networks. However, the comprehensiveness of the

systems implemented was not determined in this particular study. Accident and illness

recording and reporting is a legal requirement under Rule 1050 of the OSHS. Workplaces in

the Philippines, through responsible persons such as the HR, supervisors, managers, safety

officer and occupational health personnel, must record and report certain incidents, injuries,

diseases and dangerous occurrences involving employees. The information provided through

recording and reporting enables the workplace responsible persons to identify where and how

risks arise and to investigate serious accidents and injuries. The conduct and implementation

of Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment Controls (HIRAC) would greatly help in

identifying hazards and risks specific to the workplace which results to crafting of critical

policies and programs on safety and health tailor-fit to the needs of the workers in the

workplace. This is noticeably lacking based from the responses of the representatives

regarding awareness of a job hazard identification procedure as shown in Table 4. The

HIRAC also helps in monitoring and evaluation of the implemented programs. Recording

and reporting also enables enforcing authorities like the DOLE, to help and provide advice on

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how to reduce injury, and ill health in the workplace. Such surveillance data can also be used

to put forward an evidence-based rationale for crafting and introduction of new guidelines

and/ or legislation. Furthermore, presence of reporting and recording procedures have big

implications to acquisition of employee health benefits as this may serve as basis for

establishing a causal relationship between the occurrence of injuries and illnesses and work.

The extent of coverage of the safety and health programs to employees whose

services are acquired through concessionaires, contractual or subcontractual basis including

project based and seasonal employees was not determined in this particular study. The OSHS

requires employers to ensure that all workers doing work inside their workplaces are safe and

free from illness. This parameter would need further investigation.

The accounts of the respondents on the availability of occupational safety and health

practices in terms of presence, absence or lack thereof are attributed to either of the

following:

1) The reliability of the respondents. Establishment of the respondents as key

informant needed emphasis in this study. The information gathered was based

solely from the accounts of these respondents and the similarities or differences in

their accounts must be on the basis that their accounts are highly reliable. Also

noteworthy to mention are the issues discussed at the beginning of the discussion.

2) The inadequacy of dissemination and implementation of OSH policies and

programs to the rank and file level. The discordance of the response of the safety

officer and the management representative of Network 1 gives additional premise to

this observation. However, it cannot be considered a rationale at this point because

the response of the workers’ representative was not substantiated nor contradicted

with response of the management representative of the same network. This goes the

same with the other respondents.

CONCLUSIONS

Several issues have surfaced as discussed earlier which are important to be addressed

in conducting future research and visits to establishments. Ultimately, the practice of OSH

from the viewpoint of stakeholders will serve as baseline information for the determination of

the movie and TV industry’s labor profile. Any information extracted from participants of

government-initiated research activities, such as the RTD, enables and helps enforcing

authorities, like the DOLE, to help and provide advice on how to reduce injury and ill health

in the workplace. Through the preliminary discussions and the RTD with stakeholders, the

researchers were able to have a general idea on the industry’s occupational safety and health

status. The preliminary meetings and discussions served as a platform for the representatives

of the management side and workers’ side to share their knowledge on the current OSH

practices in their respective workplaces.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A more thorough data gathering process involving larger number of respondents is

recommended to ensure the reliability and validity of responses. Methodology can be further

improved with the use of key informant interviews and validation of responses using walk-

through surveys and document reviews. Increasing the number of key informants from the

sides of both workers and management is highly recommended to have a more holistic profile

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of the Philippine television and broadcasting industry. It is also important to investigate the

level of awareness on occupational safety and health policies, programs and services of both

management and workers in the industry. Monitoring and evaluation of OSH programs can

also be explored with the participation of key informants including but not limited to human

resource personnel, safety officers, supervisors, workers of the industry. Adequate time

allotment for the interview to extract necessary information from respondents and presence of

a documenter and an interviewer is also recommended.

SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

This report is only preliminary and is limited to the responses of the representatives

who were present in the Round Table Discussion organized by the Institute for Labor Studies

on November 23, 2016. The data gathered may not comprehensively represent the whole

industry due to factors such as the limited time and unavailability of documents at hand to

support participants’ claims on their responses to the questions during the discussion, hence

the recommendation on further validation in the form of walk-through surveys, document

reviews and larger number of respondents from workers and management (including but not

limited to Human Resource personnel and Safety Officers). Moreover, the responses from the

participants, who were not key informants but mere representatives of the companies and

workers’ groups, were not validated. Workers under concessionaires, contractual or

subcontractual basis including project based and seasonal employees was not specifically

addressed in this particular study.

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