Mr. Otto Kohlmoos, vice president for engineering and construction of San Miguel Corporation was authorized by Don Andres Soriano to head the committee and in a meeting held at the SMC’s POLO plant on October 20, 1959 attended by the civic minded and prominent figures in the field of safety from government and private sectors, the Safety Organization of the Philippines Inc. (SOPI) was born. After several meetings, the civic, non-profit, non-political and non-sectarian organization was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporated on November 19, 1959. San Miguel Corporation was the first and principal incorporator. Its By-Laws were patterned after the National Safety Council of the United States of America and has for one of the objectives, the passage of a charter nationalizing the SOPI.

The incorporators were Bernardino Bantiqui, Henry Brimo, Aurelia A. Castro, Cipriano D Cid, David M. Consunji, Luis A. Flores, Daniel M. Gomez, Mariano C. Icasiano, Juan T. Ilagan, Karl Otto Kohlmoos, Benito F. Legarda and Ruben Santos. The rest were Vicente Ramas, Frank C. Abano, Sergio Mendoza, Jose D. Regala, Gregorio S. Imperial Jr., German Bautista, Esteban Portacio, Valente Delos Reyes and Antonio Patricio.

SOPI’s objectives of saving lives and conserving properties through accident prevention, gathering and disseminating information and educational materials on safety, promoting and generating interest in safety as a discipline and making safety a way of life increased the awareness on safety not only in industry, but also in homes, schools, on the road, in the air at sea.

The Safety Organization of the Philippines, Inc. spearheads the national safety movement by the way of promoting safety consciousness and accident prevention among our people. Membership in the SOPI helps in attaining its goals and objectives and entitles you to:

1. An accident insurance of P 100,000.00 per annum during the effectivity of membership.
2. Safety appraisal and survey rendered free (max. of two hours) to institutional members.
3. Safety publication for SENIOR, REGULAR, CHAPTER & INSTITUTIONS. The SOPI Newsletter (4 issues / annum), safety bulletins, circulars and memoranda, posters. (6 kinds / annum).
4. 20% discount on SOPI sponsored safety courses / seminars, conducted under the auspices of the SOPI Training Institute.

MEMBERSHIP DUES

The Board of Directors of SOPI passed a resolution increasing the membership dues effective October 2004. The last time SOPI increased its membership dues was in 2000. Since then, there had been tremendous increase in the cost of power, water, telecommunication, administrative expense, etc. which have adversely affected SOPI finances. The adjustment is just enough to cover the increase in the cost of SOPI’s operations.
The revised schedule of membership and dues are as follows: