ZAMBOANGA CITY – Capitalizing on the latest technology to effectively implement its programs and services, the Department of Labor and Employment 9 (DOLE 9) staged a series of webinars to 134 Safety Officers in Region 9 using Zoom, a teleconference app.Dubbed as “Coping with the New Normal”, the Capacity Building Webinar for Safety Officer 1 was held in 3 batches from August 11, 2020 and finally concluding on August 26, 2020.

DOLE 9 Regional Director Atty. Roy L. Buenafe said that the training aims to orient and equip participants on the technical requirements in implementing the DOLE DTI Interim Guidelines in the prevention and control of COVID-19 in the workplace.

“Since we are highly discouraged from conducting face-to-face seminars and orientations, we opted to do it virtually. Our clients need to be informed of the latest issuances despite the limitations,” he said.

Representatives from various industries such as the Academe, Hotel, Restaurants, Wholesale/Retail and Canning participated in the 2-day webinar with topics such as Briefer on Occupational Safety and Health Standards for Safety Officer 1, Emergency Preparedness in the Workplace, 7S of Good Housekeeping: Setting the Pathway to a Safe Workplace in the Period of Pandemic and LMC: A Bi-partite Mechanism of a Safe and Healthy Workplace.

“We will continue to conduct free webinars for the private sector in time for the joint monitoring with DTI as our partner. Raising awareness on the guidelines is one of our top priorities as of the moment,” Director Buenafe added.

The Webinar is a cooperative effort of the Regional Coordinating Committee 9 composed of DOLE’s Attached Agencies. END/ KCG with reports from Jerrick Gerard C. Go, Sr. LEO, TSSD