DOLE: 41 work-related accidents in Central Visayas so far

CEBU, Philippines — A total of 41 work-related accidents in Central Visayas have been recorded since the start of the year, according to the Department of Labor and Employment Region VII (DOLE)-7.

DOLE regional director Roy Buenafe said there is a need to open a thorough investigation on the accidents to assess how these can be prevented.

“Alarming ‘yung number of accidents that happened in the region. Recently, we monitored two accidents already,” said Buenafe during the Kalayaan Job Fair 2025 last Thursday.

Thirty-nine cases in the region have been reported to DOLE since January, and two more were added recently this month.

“Ang sinabi ko noon ay dapat hanggang 39 lang tayo ngayon, pero nangyari pa ng dalawa,” Buenafe shared.

Last June 8, a construction worker from Barangay Zapatera fell to his death after a falling pipe hit his head.

Buenafe has already assured that they are doing a thorough investigation and has signed the stoppage order Thursday morning.

In a phone call interview, DOLE-7 information officer Roberto Cabardo noted that most of the reported cases happened in manual labor jobs such as construction.

He further noted that many of the cases involved electrocution as a result of contact with live wire.

Majority of workers who got involved in accidents are freelancers. Meaning they do not have employers who oversee them.

“It's so sad because dili basta makalihok ang DOLE kay wala may employer to employee relationship ang kani nga accidents kay freelance ni sila nga workers kasagaran,” Cabardo said.

As part of its preventive measures, DOLE will be doing a Barangay OSPATROL or Occupational Safety Patrol.

The program will be done on a barangay level where officials will be trained in various safety measures.

DOLE-7 eyes to expand this to more barangays in the coming months.

"Ang ginawa namin, sinusulong namin yung tinatawag na Barangay OSPATROL. So itong OSPATROL mag-train tayo ng mga barangay tanod at tsaka ating mga opisyales sa barangay para meron silang basic technical knowledge,” said Buenafe.

“We already contacted two barangays, basically at Lahug and Mabolo dahil yan ang area na nakita natin na doon nanggagaling ‘yung mga aksidente na-monitor last year at this year,” Buenafe added. — CNU intern (FREEMAN)