Twenty three (23) delegates from eight (8) ASEAN countries participated in The Workshop Program on the Japanese- ASEAN Chemical Industry for Core Personnel focusing on Operational and Labor Safety and Improvement Initiative on January 21 -25, 2019 at AOTS Tokyo Kenshu Center, Japan.

The Program on ASEAN- JAPAN Chemical Industry’s Labor Safety, Operational Safety, and Environment Improvement Initiative was initiated by Japan in order to build capacity building for the core personnel in the pursuit of harmonization regarding common regulations on chemical management. It also aims that the chemical industries in all these countries cooperate with each other to gather knowledge and information on security, disaster prevention, as well as safety activities in factories, and create a system of information sharing in order to build the capacity necessary to prevent accidents in the chemical industry.

The Program included lectures on prevention of accidents, process safety and different programs of Japan Chemical Industry Association (JCIA) on awards and recognition of their members. A visit to the Mitsui Chemicals conducted to see how a private company prepares and trains its employees for chemical operations and Yokohama National University (YNU) to see how safety is integrated in the educational system of Japan.

Mr. Jose Joel Maleon from the DENR-EMB, Ms. Evelyn Tandayu of the Occupational Health and Safety Center (OSHC) and Ms. Gretchen Fontejon Enarle were the representatives of the Philippines during the 2nd year of the program together with representatives from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.