In celebration of the Chemistry Week, the Integrated Chemists of the Philippines conducted a two-day training workshop on “Preparation of Chemical Safety Manual” at the Makati Palace Hotel last February 11-12, 2013. This workshop is part of the continuing Chemical Safety campaign of the ICP.
The objective of this workshop was to train the participants to prepare their institution’s chemical safety manual. The 62 participants, who came from the industry, government and academe, included researchers, analysts, faculty members, safety officers, laboratory technicians and regulatory officers.
The resource speakers are Ms. Tessie B. Corpuz of TERECOR Environmental Health and Safety Consultancy Services and Dr. Glenn Alea from the Chemistry Department, De La Salle University.
There were four topics presented and discussed during the first day. The first topic was on the Safety Manual: what it is, and what its benefits and elements are. The second topic was on the Philippine Occupational Health and Safety Rules as promulgated by the Department of Labor and Employment.
The third topic discussed the use of Gap Analysis as a preparation for developing the institution’s chemical safety manual. Each participant completed the checklist for the gap analysis based on a review of their own institution’s safety programs. The fourth topic presented the process of how to prepare and write a safety policy.
The workshop was conducted during the second day. The participants were grouped into industry, academe and government sectors, and their respective subsectors. Each group was asked to complete their gap analysis and then describe their proposed action plans and programs to fill the gaps. Finally each group was asked to develop a safety policy and outline of safety manual and present their outputs.
The ICP plans to follow-up the progress of the participants in its effort to institutionalize chemical safety in the country.