MANILA, Philippines — The number of workers, who are filing an appeal for their occupational disease claims, dropped during the last three years, according to the preliminary report from the Employees’ Compensation Commission (ECC).

Based on the latest data from ECC, which covers number of claims and amounts paid from 1975 up to the first semester of 2010, the number of appeals at the ECC dropped from 289,035 claims in 2008 to 289,035 in 2009.

However, the total amount of awarded to workers increased by from R1.14 billion in 2008 to R1.15 billion in 2009.

ECC Appeals Division Chief Jonathan Villasotto said in a telephone interview that they are also anticipating a decrease in the total number of claims in 2010 based from their preliminary data during its first semester.

He said the trend could be attributed to the more efficient awarding of disability claims by SSS and GSIS to its members and the reduction in the number work-related health risk through the intensified inspection and safety training of the Occupational Safety and Health Center (OSHC). (Samuel Medenilla)