Time to take five or 10 before clocking out

KUCHING: Employers may have to consider giving their employees a five to 10-minute break to unwind before they call it a day and drive home.

Deputy director-general (policy) of Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) Zabidi Md Adib said such a break was necessary as a preventive measure against the increasing number of commuting accidents among employees.

“Certain employers have started to implement this by giving their employees five to 10 minutes of break before allowing them to drive home.

“Those who have yet to do this maybe toying with this idea to prevent their employees from rushing home after work. However, the employees are not allowed to leave their office during the break,” he said when officiating at a seminar in conjunction with the Sarawak Occupational Safety and Health Week here yesterday.

Based on the statistics from the Social Security Organisation (SOCSO), there were 59,897 industrial accidents recorded throughout the country last year, with 24,809 involving commuting accidents.

Zabidi said employers had to look into the welfare of their employees who were an invaluable asset to their organisations.

“They have to make sure that their employees understand the occupational safety and health aspects,” he said.

He added that since the introduction of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, accidents in the workplace had seen a significant decrease from 10 accidents for every 1,000 employees in 2002 to seven accidents for every 1,000 employees in 2007.

Last year, there were 3.4 accidents recorded for every 1,000 employees.

“There is a need for all the industries to have occupational safety and health policies in the workplace to be managed by a committee.

“The management has to show its commitment towards this and there have been a marked improvement in this as there have been more cases reported and also an increased awareness on the importance of the practice,” he added.

Some 200 participants took part in the one-day seminar which was held to give the industries exposure on the occupational safety and health aspects.

Source : The Star