Senate awarded Safety Seal certification

The Senate has been awarded with a Safety Seal certification by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), signifying its compliance with the minimum public health standards set by the government.

Senate Secretary Myra Marie Villarica said the Senate has been complying with health standards set by the government since the start of the pandemic. Upon the instruction of Senate President Vicente Sotto III, the Senate Medical and Dental Bureau instituted protocols to ensure that employees are safe from COVID-19 when they report for work.

Dr. Renato Sison Jr. of the Medical and Dental Bureau said the award was granted on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

"This is our way of ensuring that the Senate is a safe place to work. It is part of our campaign to assure our workforce that it is safe to come back to work," Sison said.

The Safety Seal program is an inter-agency initiative launched by the DILG, the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Trade and Industry DTI), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Tourism (DOT). Public and private establishments or buildings with a Safety Seal indicates that a particular building or establishment is compliant with health protocols against COVID-19.

According to Sison, the Senate had applied for the Safety Seal certification and complied with all requirements, including daily disinfections of the building, availability of thermal scanner or thermal gun to assess employees and visitors' temperature, availability of health declaration sheets, availability of isolation area for identified symptomatic employees, referral system to hospitals and contact tracing, among others.

He said the Senate was lauded for having its own contact tracing and referral system. While other institutions usually rely on the government for contact tracing and referrals, Sison said the Medical and Dental Service assisted the admission of Senate employees infected with COVID-19 to hospitals, particularly during surges. The Medical Services had also managed mild infections of COVID-19 cases and done its own contact tracing.

A team from the DILG, Bureau of Fire and Protection and the Philippine National Police had inspected the Senate building and awarded the Safety Seal certification to Senate officials led by Deputy Secretary for Administration and Finance Arnel Banas.

Under the guidelines, a seal shall be valid for six months upon issuance and shall be renewed not later than one month before its expiration.