In its quest to contribute to the professional growth and competence of the physicians in the field of occupational medicine, the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC) oriented the medical practitioners on the compensability and the manner of evaluation of diseases and injuries of workers under the Employees’ Compensation Program during the Basic Course on Occupational Medicine (BCOM) held in Hotel del Rio, Iloilo City on June 6, 2018.

The said training was organized by the Philippine College of Occupational Medicine (PCOM)-Iloilo Panay. PCOM has been accredited by the Department of Labor and Employment as a training institution to conduct the BCOM for doctors and dentist. This training is mandated by the DOLE for those providing health services in all workplaces.

Thirty nine 39 medical doctors from various private and public hospitals coming from Visayas and Mindanao attended the 8-day training.

“The ECC continuously reviews the list of occupational diseases and conditions of compensability of occupational work-related diseases to make them more applicable to the present time, considering some emerging diseases today. We always assure that our participants in our seminars know the basic of the ECP, its benefits, process and documentary requirements needed to avail EC benefits. We also provide them with some jurisprudence on compensability of illness and injury,” explained ECC Executive Director Stella Z. Banawis.

Banawis added that the ECC always highlight the importance of prevention by complying with Occupational Safety and Health Standards as this will ensure a healthy and safe work environment. “I would like to emphasize that prevention is better than compensation. The ECC provides benefits for work-related contingencies but good practices in OSH provide a better and healthier community,” Banawis further said.

The ECC is an attached agency of the Department of Labor and Employment mandated by law to provide benefits to workers in the private and public sectors in the event of work-connected contingencies.

 

End/ Stephene S. Barredo