Its chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye told a press conference here yesterday that commuting accidents had climbed 22.13 per cent from 655 cases in 2009 to 800 cases in 2010 in the state.
At the national level, commuting accidents had risen by 30 per cent from 17,170 reported cases to 22,040 in 2010, which is a contrast to industrial accidents now on a downward trend from 67,163 (2001) to 35,616 (2010).
He defined commuting accidents as workers involved in road accidents when commuting between workplace and home.
“Although this is a nationwide trend, stakeholders must urgently take proactive measures to arrest the spiralling trend as it affects their productivity.”
To help reduce both industrial and commuting accidents, NIOSH would organise various programmes, he revealed, adding that they would emphasize defensive driving for light vehicles.
“We are going to organise defensive driving for light vehicles in Bintulu from June 13 to 14. Bintulu has many industries and factories.
“NIOSH is committed in helping to reduce both industrial and commuting accidents.
“We have been actively providing occupational safety and health (OSH) training relevant to the industries in Sarawak since the establishment of NIOSH office in Bintulu in 2002.”
He added that NIOSH would beef up its activities in Sarawak to help the state government and industries to focus more on safety training, and safety driving.
On causative factors of traffic accidents, he figured the road conditions contributed in part.
“The condition of the road is very important. By that I mean when there is a lot of potholes, authorities need to do something to reduce accidents.”
Employers have a ‘Duty of Care’ to inform their employees on road safety, he said.
Source : TheBorneoPost.com
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