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CEBU CITY, Philippines – The labor department has started its own investigation into Saturday's construction accident inside the Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu) Inc. in Balamban town in western Cebu.
Regional Director Elias Cayanong of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) sent his staff to Balamban to look into the possible administrative liability of the employer, Metaphil.
Safety in the workplace is one of the mandates of the labor department.
Labor safety engineers Vicente Abordo, who is a mechanical engineer, and Efren delos Reyes, an electrical engineer, went to the accident site to look into the role of the management of Metaphil Inc.
The Metaphil management voluntarily stopped work in the portion where the accident happened based on the engineers recommendation.
Cayanong said they wanted to find out if there was negligence on the part of the management, lack of supervision on the part of the supervisors to the welders and lack of safety measures.
The victims were working on the steel trusses of a warehouse they were building when the trusses gave way. The workers fell from a height of at least 60 feet at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Welders Seledonio Rivera Jr., 46; Romeo Dindin, Arthur Subing-subing, 30; and Israel Torculas, 39, died from the fall.
Noel Arcillas, Danilo Capangpangan, Francisco Igmedio, Narciso Ruiz, Gerome Tolin and Richard Cabañero were injured in the accident.
“Our safety inspectors, which include mechanical and electrical engineers, are conducting an ocular inspection. Preventive measures must also be implemented in order to prevent any similar accident”, Cayanong said.
Cayanong said DOLE will also check that all benefits be given to the victims.
As to the criminal liability, Cayanong said, this is the call of the Balamban police.
Superintendent Anthony Bagarinao, Balamban police chief, said he was still waiting for the report of the Metaphil management about the cause of the accident.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Bendebel, Metaphil assistant vice president for construction, said they are still putting together findings from different divisions of the company conducting separate investigations of the incident.
Bendebel said the operation, engineering and design, quality control and safety teams of Metaphil have conducted separate investigation to ensure that all sides are examined.
Bendebel refused to give the initial findings of the investigation.
He said he hoped that the company can come out with a final investigation on Tuesday. /Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan with a report from Reporter Cris Evert Lato
