Safeguarding Health and Safety

As a champion of SDG 6, Manila Water understands that access to water and sanitation is a right, and the provision of safe and potable water is essential to public health in communities. The Company has a commitment to comply with regulatory specifications on the quality of water provided to customers. All water quality risks along the water value chain, from source to tap, are addressed through comprehensive water safety plans. With the expansion of water and wastewater services as part of its service obligations, the Company operates hundreds of facilities and undertakes numerous infrastructure projects in the public space at any given time, such as pipelaying and leak repairs. The safety of employees, contractors and the general public are of paramount concern and safety programs are in place.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the Company beyond the usual occupational health and safety risk. Manila Water is a lifeline in communities and its services cannot be put on hold like other economic activities. The Company ensured that the health risk to all employees were minimized, especially on the operations frontliners, in order to be able to continue being productive. Adjustments in working arrangements and health reporting protocols were implemented, guided by the evolving understanding of the disease.

ACCESS TO SAFE DRINKING WATER

In compliance with the Department of Health’s Administrative Order 2014-0027 or the National Policy on Water Safety Plan for All Drinking-Water Service Providers, Manila Water has prepared Water Safety Plans (WSP) to ensure delivery of safe drinking water. In its commitment to maintaining high quality of water distributed to its customers, the Company developed and implemented a preventive risk management approach to manage water quality risks. Manila Water’s WSP aims to (1) minimize the contamination of source water, (2) ensure safe quality of water from treatment, storage and distribution, (3) identify potential risk and provide appropriate control measures in all parts of its operation, (4) implement and document effectiveness of identified control measures, and (5) provide and update policies and procedures. Each Water Safety Plan encompasses the entire water supply system – raw water sources, water treatment, pumping stations, reservoirs, and water distribution networks -- where applicable to the specific business unit.

84,757

Samples Analyzed

100%

Compliance with the drinking water standards¹

Manila Water regularly collects and analyzes samples from vital points along each water supply system’s value chain to detect any emerging patterns, help in controlling treatment processes and validate compliance with the national drinking water standards.

There were no health-based drinking water violations or significant exceedances in bacteriological parameters in 2020. Manila Water and its subsidiaries have robust quality control and monitoring protocols on bacteriological and other drinking water parameters, prescribed by both the Department of Health and the specific utility regulators of the business units.¹

¹ 100 percent Compliance was achieved by 9 out of 11 business units covered in the reporting period.
PNSDW Compliance of Bulakan Water was at 95 percent while Bulacan Aqua was at 99 percent.
These two business units are relatively newly operational.

KEEPING THE WORKPLACE CLEAN AND SAFE

GRI:2018 403-1, 403-2, 403-3

The Company has set up safety committees at the group, department and facility levels which are well represented by rank and file and managerial employees. These committees monitor safety performance regularly and implement continuous improvement initiatives to address gaps and overlaps in processes. The Company implements measures such as incident investigations among employees and contractors. Reporting and escalation procedures are in place, and consolidated reports are submitted to the Department of Labor and Employment.

The government recently released new guidelines and the Company is executing improvements to comply with the new regulation.

Newly operational business units are undergoing change management initiatives to be able to align with the safety policies and procedures, as well as reporting protocols, of the parent Company.

GETTING THE WORKPLACE READY FOR COVID–19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Manila Water Company took proactive steps to ensure the Company still operates effectively and essential water and wastewater services are continuously provided, and a primary objective is to ensure that all Manila Water employees, along with the workers of the contractors, remained safe and productive, and ultimately allowing the Company’s infrastructure projects to continue. The Special Report on COVID-19 details the mitigating measuresundertaken by the Company to respond to the pandemic.

INITIATIVES:

Shuttle Arrangement and Mobility App (SAMA)

• The Company provided shuttle service to employees to lessen their exposure when commuting to the office.

Call Tree App

• This application serves as a tool to ensure all employees are safe and responded significantly during emergency cases.

Alignment of policies with government guidelines

• Safety drills; Safety trainings to employees and contractors;
• Both employees and contractors undergo Rapid Testing during the first few months of the pandemic.
• Enhancement of health protocols based on new guidelines that resulted in needs-based testing upon check-ups and exposure.

In 2020, the East Zone Concession attained 2,959,832 safe man-hours covering organic employees and 5,655,236 safe manhours for its contractors.

1. A reset in contractors’ safe man hours under the East Zone Concession due to incidents in the second and third quarter of 2020
2. Business units that do not report data for contractors’ safe man hours are currently undergoing capacity building initiative and figures are expected to be provided covering the year 2021.