PH Consulate General in Chicago and OSHA Region 5 Renew Formal Cooperation

Consul General Gina A. Jamoralin (left) and OSHA Deputy Regional Administrator Nancy Hauter (right) signing the Regional Alliance Agreement. (Photos courtesy of Mr. Sheridan Sabeniano)

CHICAGO 10 September 2018 – In observance of the Labor Rights Week, the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago held a signing ceremony on 30 August 2018 to renew its regional Alliance Agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Region 5.

Deputy Regional Administrator Nancy Hauter, who signed the document on behalf of OSHA Regional Administrator Ken Nishiyama Atha, highlighted the importance of collaboration with Consulates General to reach the respective communities they represent.

She added that OSHA will continue its mandate to reduce if not eliminate an average of 16 work-related deaths reported daily, as their work is underpinned by a philosophy that one worker fatality per day is one too many.

“The Philippine Consulate General has been fortunate to have OSHA as its partner,” said Consul General Gina A. Jamoralin. OSHA has participated in fora at the consulate and most of its consular outreach activities since 2014.

“Noting that Filipinos, either as immigrants or guest workers, continue to arrive in the U.S. making sure they get full information about workplace safety and health would be an important service,” she added. The Consulate’s translation of the OSHA poster on basic workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities in Tagalog and Cebuano supplemented such effort.

One of the Filipino-Americans who attended the short program spoke with Ms. Hauter and said that, as a nurse at the Cleveland Clinic, she appreciates what OSHA does for health care professionals through mandatory training and certification.

Consul General and Ms. Hauter, together with Mr. Richard Langenderfer, Cooperative and State Plans Coordinator, also met and discussed possible ways of furthering cooperation for the benefit of Filipino caregivers and workers in other sectors for the next couple of years. END

For more information, visit www.chicagopcg.dfa.gov.ph, www.chicagopcg.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinChicago.

Consul General Jamoralin and DRA Hauter are joined by ATN Officer Ceasar Balarbar, Legal Officer and Asst. Administrative Officer Alvar Rosales and DCG Romulo Victor M. Israel Jr., along with Filipino-Americans who had their oath-taking as dual citizens and attended the simple ceremony at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago. (Photos courtesy of Mr. Sheridan Sabeniano.)