Labor Undersecretary Lourdes Transmonte said the DOLE cannot file a
case against Keppel even if its investigation showed that it is liable
for the accident.
Related Story: Govt policies blamed for ‘accidents waiting to happen’ in workplaces
By MARYA SALAMAT
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – There had been the usual “toolbox meeting” in Keppel Subic
Shipyard on the morning of Oct 7, before some 230 workers proceeded to
continue work on the repair and anti-pirate retrofitting of a 22,650-ton
cargo container ship called MV Tombarra.
It is just one ship to work on, and Keppel Subic Shipyard has on
average a 1,300 Filipino workforce, according to Keppel Subic Shipyard
president Mok Kim Whang. More than two-thirds of these workers are
contractual, based on the presentation of the Department of Labor and
Employment (DOLE).
There had also been a health and safety inspection of Keppel Subic
Shipyard last August, according to PEZA in Subic. The findings had been
okay, it said.
Keppel and Hanjin are two of the big-ticket shipbuilding and repair
investors that took over the facilities in Subic, Zambales after these
were converted from being US military bases before. It involved
billion-dollar investments and employs thousands of workers. But it has
also repeatedly featured in accidents that resulted in deaths and
injuries to its workers.
File picture of Keppel workers at work on MV Tombarra’s cargo loading ramp before the Oct 7 accident. (Photo courtesy of DOLE / bulatlat.com)
From the investigations of the Metal Workers’ Alliance of the
Philippines (MWAP), Institute for Occupational Health and Safety
(IOHSAD), Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR) and Ecumenical
Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER), here is what
happened on Oct 7:
- The workers were repairing a ramp used by the cargo ship to load
and unload cars. (Ramp weighed 166.4 tons according to Zambales police
report, 250 tons according to the workers and witnesses interviewed by
MWAP.)
- The said ramp was held in place by steel cables more than an inch
in diameter and tied to a part of the ship, which was dry-docked while
being repaired; the ramp is several stories high from the ground where
other workers were busy. On the other end of the ramp, only one steel
post was supporting it.
- The steel cables supporting the ramp from one end snapped,
resulting in what sounded like an explosion. But the single steel post
supporting the ramp on the other end failed to support the whole weight
of the ramp being repaired and retrofitted with anti-pirate plate.
Sample of frayed steel cables that brought about the fall of tons of steel tower post and ramp. (Photo courtesy of DOLE / bulatlat.com)
- Unbalanced, the steel post teetered and fell, bringing the ramp down with it, and an anti-pirate plate to be fitted on it.
(The Zambales police reported that a “crane” used to carry the
anti-pirate plate fell on the cables, causing it to snap. But Fernando
San Juan, witness and father of Mark San Juan who died during the
accident said the “crane” was not yet near the ramp area when the cables
snapped. The police attributed their “error” to the lack of engineering
experts among them and to the fact that many things at the site had
been shifted around and “tampered with” before they arrived. Senator
Estrada told the police to interview the witnesses.)
- The steel post crushed the workers who were working under the ramp. Other workers who were working on the ramp slid and fell.....
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Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/10/20/keppel-liable-for-accident-but-it-is-up-to-workers-to-file-claims-%e2%80%93-dole/
