Note: Use local pictures and videos.
What kind of work environment problems do you note in the pictures?
How do these problems affect workers? How can these problems be prevented?
Divide participants into three groups:
GROUP 1
Read the case study of work environment experiences in EM and discuss.
Chemical Exposure
TI, being an electronics assembly company uses a lot of dangerous chemicals which workers touch and inhale while cleaning the water fabrication LEDS (light emitting dioded). Workers are unfamiliar with the names of these chemicals. What they know is that they use hydrochloric acid for cleaning which can burn the throat and erode tissues in the eyes and nose and can cause blindness. Lead is also used in soldering and can cause dizziness, delirium, loss of memory, and coma.
CLEAR in its research was able to identify 7 hazardous chemicals used at TI. These are acetone, ethyl alcohol, hydrochloric acid, kerosene, lead, perchloro ethylene, trichloror ethylene. However, the workers are not fully informed of the names and nature of these chemicals, and they do not know the possible side effects these may have on their health.
Protective gadgets provided to minimise the effects of exposure to these chemicals are generally insufficient. Workers are provided with gloves but these easily get burned when chemicals are handled.
In Tara Designs and Linen Concepts, kerosene is used which cause headaches, nausea and vomiting if inhaled and ingested. Workers at Tara also do not know the composition of the paste solution they use because Tara Walker makes the solution herself. Workers at Ampang Industries, Adriste Inc. and Moog Control Inc. say they do not use chemicals in their work. The chemicals and waste products are often transported near areas where workers live, and many people are worried about risks from this.
Reproductive Health
Married workers in BCEPZ try to avoid getting pregnant because of their jobs. Getting pregnant while working can be a burden to them. They are always under stress, exposed to chemicals and loaded with work.
Avoiding pregnancy therefore means using birth controls methods. All of the married respondents interviewed use various contraceptive methods, the most common of which are pills, intra-uterine device (IUD) and the injectable depo-provera.
Depo-provera has been banned for long time in the industrialised countries, but it is dumped in developing countries like the Philippines and is still being prescribed by medical practitioners. The majority of respondents using this method did not choose it but were advised to do so by their doctors or nurses. This is also true in the use of lUD's and pills which are also known to have some side effects. Some side effects reported were pimples and dermatitis in the case of IUD.
In TI, pregnant employees are transferred to other departments. Production operators who are pregnant are transferred to the symbol department to clean the IC's where they are exposed to hazardous chemicals. The name and the ratio of these chemicals are unknown to the women, and their only protection are gloves which are often burnt in the process. There were three reported cases of miscarriage in TI which could be attributed to chemical exposure. However, these women do not see the direct relation between their exposure to the chemicals and their miscarriage. They believe that the main cause of their miscarriage is stress.
What are the basic legal provisions for safe work environments you would expect to find in EPZs?
Do these exist in the EPZ Act /other laws
* in the case study countries
* in your country
GROUP 2
Read the case study below and study.
Waste Disposal of Texas Instrument
Some areas in the periphery of 13CEPZ are utilised as dumping areas for the industrial waste of the different companies. A case study was done by CWERC regarding Tl's waste disposal system showed that the health of the workers in the dump site as well as that of the surrounding community is adversely affected by the improper garbage disposal practices of the company.
The Texas Instrument garbage dumping area is located in Barangay Kias, on top of a hill which is only few metres away from the residential area of the Barangay. A private company owned by Mr Tibaldo (A relative of the Barangay captain of Kias) is engaged in sorting the waste of TI for commercial purposes. The company of Mr Tibaldo does retailing of reusable waste and classification of the waste for recycling which they sell to earn a profit.
Previously, the dumping area was located at the centre of the community in a lot belonging to the Barangay Captain. However, the company decided to transfer the dumping area since neighbouring houses petitioned against it. The industrial waste gathered from TI is composed of lumber, boxes, drums, plastics, styrofoam, and garbage mixtures. Garbage mixtures refer to used sanitary napkins, tissue paper, cotton swabs, scrap papers, scrap metals and other unidentified waste matter contained in a plastic waste bag.
The company of Mr Tibaldo employs mostly lgorot women and several children to do classifying work of the garbage mixtures. The workers also wipe off powdered chemicals from cellophane, plastic containers and other reusable waste. The workers do this without proper clothing or protective gadgets, thus they are prone to various illnesses arising from their working conditions.
The labourers work from 7:00am to 6:00pm with and hour lunch break. They are paid thirty pesos (P30.00) a day which hardly compensates for the hours of work that they put in and for the dangers to their health which they face. The ill-effects of the garbage installation are felt by the employees themselves, such as dizziness, headaches, stomach disorders, reproductive and respiratory disorders. These ill effects could even be fatal as seen in the reported death of three women workers of the company. In spite of these incidents, the other workers choose to continue working with the company in order to augment their income.
The dumping site is located near a residential area. It is likely that the water system in the community has been affected by the chemical content of the waste materials. It is thus to be expected that the presence of the dumping site in the community will have long term effects on.the people and on the environment.
Trash disposal is one of many basic services that is not provided for this Matamoros neighbourhood where many maqulla workers live.
What are the basic legal provisions for environmental protection you would expect to find in EPZs?
Do these exist in the EPZ Act /other laws in your country?
GROUP 3
What health problems would you think EPZ workers face?
What basic health care/social security provision would you expect EPZ workers to have?
What provisions exist in your country?
Discuss the group work in plenary.
There are features of EPZs that indicate that problems may arise: EPZs may be unstable enterprises that generate economic and social costs and ' move to avoid liability for these costs. EPZs have tax concessions so their use of resources is subsidised by other producers and tax payers. EPZs use imported raw materials and produce wastes that may be hazardous.
When EPZs use unskilled, insecure and low income employment they are less likely to invest in safe work and environmental protection such as safe and clean technological waste disposal, safe transport etc. Suspension of labour law weakens the national capacity to influence and monitor technology use and to chose alternative processes/resources when environmental costs are identified.
Sustainable environment policies demand a broadening of the decision making on environmental issues to people directly affected by those environments, while empowering and educating the same people to make informed decisions. An essential and fundamental means of dealing with work environment issues is through bipartite and tripartite mechanisms, both for decision making, discussion and resolution of conflict issues. Where these are not present in EPZs (such as through suspension of labour law) it would be difficult to see how work environment issues would be addressed through the normal tripartite mechanism developing in the region.
Hence while Environmental Impact Assessment may be a component of EPZ law, in practice it may be weakly implemented, and there may be inadequate mechanism for ensuring liability for environmental costs (on a polluter pays principle). If health and environmental, standards are compromised, the degeneration of natural resources, the build up of pollution, the increase in ill health and the loss of future resources for production aj7e long term liabilities that will appear and have to be met long after the EPZ producer has exploited their concessions and left.
| If health and environmental standards are compromised, the degeneration of natural resources, the build up of pollution, the increase in ill health and the loss of future resources for production are long term liabilities. |
Hence basic health, safety and environment standards should apply and should be explicitly stated, as in the environmental agreement from the Philippines shown on the next page. Methods should. also be sought to ensure that EPZ producers pay the costs normally paid through taxes for environmental protection and are liable for prevention and costs of health and environmental damage.
But many companies have no such agreements and in many countries the law to protect the environment is weak or unenforced.
THE SAN MIGUEL CORPORATION, The San Miguel Corporation (SIVIC) is the biggest food, beverage and packaging company in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It prides itself as a trailblazer in environmental protection, as its policy on the environment outlined below shows. Above all, it recognises the indispensable role of labour in realizing and sustaining the company's goals and programmes on the environment, and provides for broad participation of its employees through the collective bargaining process. Corporate Policy on the Environment San Miguel Corporation is committed to environmental protection and preservation as a requisite for sustainable development and for long-term socio-economic benefits to present and future generations. Thus, SIVIC actively contributes towards a clean and thriving environment for the well-being of its communities, employees, consumers and the nation. Total Environmental Quality is a key philosophy which reflects how SIVIC sources its raw materials and manufactures, packages, distributes and markets its wide range of products.
To reinforce the above approach, we shall:
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