Safeguards to protect Filipino call centre workers

Manila: The labour department has issued a set of guidelines providing health safeguards to call centre workers amid reports that such nocturnal employees have been subjected to greater hazards in the workplace compared to other office workers.

Labour and Employment Secretary Arturo Brion signed a document providing for the policy guidelines governing the occupational safety and health of workers in the call centre industry.

The guideline is the first of its kind in the Philippines providing safeguards for call centre employees.

Workplace hazards

Brion said the guidelines should guide call centre firms to protect workers across industries from life-threatening hazards in workplaces.

As a result of increasing globalisation, businesses from developed countries abroad have found it more cost effective to move or outsource their call centre operations in the Philippines.

Foremost among the concerns affecting the health of call centre workers is the weather prevailing in a tropical country like the Philippines.

Due to air conditioning, it is usually very cold inside a call centre but hot outside of it. The combination may produce health problems such as cough, cold, dry itchy throat, and other voice problems.

At the same time, call centre workers perform their job using computers and telephones uninterrupted for long hours with minimal movements that may cause eye strain, hearing problems, and musculoskeletal symptoms.