DOSH director-general Dato’ Ir Dr Johari Basri disclosed the statistics, saying that 323 on-site inspections were performed in Sabah and out of these, 261 notices were issued.
The plantation sector recorded the highest number of workplace accidents with 69 cases last year, followed by 31 cases in industrial sector, two cases in construction and timber sectors respectively and a case in the fishing sector.
In 2010, Johari said 332 work sites were inspected in the State, while 336 notices were issued.
In the same year, 11 compounds were issued amounting to RM29,000 and four court cases were completed which summed up to RM19,000.
As for fatal workplace accidents, there was a decrease from 13 cases in 2010 to three cases last year in Sabah and Labuan, Johari said when officiating at the Site Safety Supervisors (SSS) course here yesterday. The six-day course was initiated by Sabah Builders Association (SBA) and conducted by Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM).
Johari pointed out that safety and health of a workplace is important for both employers and employees, as it has both physical and economical implications.
He said construction workers bore the risk of fall from height, injured by fallen objects, and even exposed to noise and dust.
When accidents happened, he said projects would be delayed, thus incurring additional costs on the employers.
In view of this, Johari stressed that SSS has a role to ensure safety at work sites as safety and health officers may not have time and expertise to monitor all aspects in a major construction project.
“Based on our experience, we need supervisors with their expertise to always be present at the construction site to help the safety and health officers to ensure the projects were run without accidents.”
He also pledged to work with associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to provide training to SSS.
Johari also vowed to look into providing a career path for SSS for them to become competent safety officers.
“I hope with experienced and qualified SSS, the number of accidents and fatalities at the workplace in Sabah will decrease.”
He further said DOSH was looking into enforcing offshore activities this year and is currently in discussion with Petronas.
Johari warned employers that failure to adhere to the safety and health regulations will result in actions taken against them in the form of warning letters, compound or taken to court.
Meanwhile, MBAB president Kwan Foh Kwai said there was a need to enhance the occupational health and safety environment under which construction stakeholders operate.
Issues affeting health and safety such as employee welfare and management of occupational health and safety at construction sites should be given high priority, especially by top level management to ensure that accidents at construction sites can be reduced to a minimum.
To internalize and institutionalize a strong safety culture, Kwan said one of the methods is to have regular educational and promotional initiatives such as the organization of the SSS course.
“The SSS course conducted by MBAM is recognized by DOSH and this course is to help our contractors fulfil the legal requirement for Safety and Health Supervisors which is being enforced starting from January 1, 2012.”
A total of 30 participants signed up for the SSS course.
Also present were DOSH Sabah director Ir Mohamad Razak Ismail, MBAM vice president Ir Foo Chek Lee and Sabah Builders Association (SBA) president Choo Kim Min.
Source : www.TheBorneoPost.com
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