Insist on Use of PPE to Save Lives

SIBU: Employers are urged to impress on their workers the importance of wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) to prevent loss of lives and serious injuries in the event of a workplace accident.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, in responding to a workplace accident where a construction worker succumbed to his injuries after falling from a scaffolding at a construction site in Kuching, said the employee’s life could have been saved had he worn a safety harness.

“Falling from high places tops the list of workplace fatalities in the construction sector as many workers have a low awareness of safety. That is why it is most important for employers to impress on their workers the need to wear PPE such as safety harnesses to ensure their safety while at work.

“What happened to the worker was very tragic but his life could have been saved had he worn a safety harness. The construction sector is one of the high risk industries in terms of workplace accidents and safety must be given priority at all times,” Lee told The Borneo Post when contacted yesterday. He stressed that workers must put on their PPE at all times to protect their lives.

According to the news report, the deceased who was working on a two-storey high scaffolding fell when his wooden foot support broke.

Lee suggested that only quality planks be used for foot support to avoid compromising the safety of the workers.

Turning to scaffolding, he stressed that it must be properly erected and regularly inspected to remove hazards that can endanger workers’ lives.

Added Lee: “It must have a proper base plate to support it firmly on the ground.”

Towards this end, he lauded the move to make it mandatory for construction sites to engage site safety supervisors (SSS) starting January 2012.

The progressive move will certainly go a long way to help reduce workplace accidents at construction sites, he said.

With the services of SSS, he reckoned the safety culture at work would be better implemented and cascaded among the workers.

“Many of the construction workers are foreigners and have low awareness on safety and the wearing of PPE may be taken for granted.

“It is good news as all construction sites irrespective of project amount, need to engage an SSS to manage matters related to safety and health of workers,” he noted.

Lee mentioned that this would help deal with the risks and hazards at workplaces to ensure good safety practices that safeguard the workers.

“This is because the role of SSS is to put in place the Safety and Health (OSH) programme, and ensure
effective implementation,” he explained.

Source: www.TheBorneoPost.com