Pekan, 8 April 2017 – In its effort to cultivate the occupational safety and health (OSH) culture, Occupational Safety and Health Management Office (OSHMO) Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) collaborated with Sekolah Berasrama Penuh Integrasi Tun Abdul Razak (InSTAR), Pekan to organize the OSH in School Program 2017. The program, which was the second of its kind, was held to establish cooperation between university, industry and school to enable the sharing of knowledge on awareness of aspects of occupational safety and health within the school environment.

According to the Director of OSHMO UMP Mr Muhammad Hairynizam Muhd Taib, OSHMO UMP had already held talks with the school management of InSTAR to especially enhance the level of OSH awareness among the school community. “Such awareness would be important to the school in implementing OSH risk management plan to provide an accident-free environment within the school In addition, it is also part of the University’s community service to the school while at the same time, promoting the University to the community outside of UMP,” he said.

The head of the program Mr Ahmad Harris Abd Hamid said that the program, which was held for the second time by UMP, was the University’s response to the call made by the government to cultivate the occupationsal safety and health culture as outlined in the 2016-2020 Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan or Pelan Induk Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan Malaysia 2016-2020. Various exciting activities such as Hazard Hunt and Safety Games were held. There was also a talk on OSH awareness by Associate Professor Dr Mohd Fadzil Mohd Idris from the Faculty of Engineering Technology. One InSTAR student, Mohamad Danish Aiman, aged 16, said that the exposure given during the program significantly helped him and his friends to understand the basic knowledge of occupational safety and health and should continue to be organised in the future.

Meanwhile, for a Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) practitioner Atikah Mustaffa, the initiative by OSHMO UMP was a proactive measure to promote the OSH culture at an early stage since it involved schoolchildren. OSHMO, with the cooperation from the Technical Unit of the Faculty of Chemical and Natural Resources Engineering of UMP, HSE practitioners and UMP students, hoped that the sharing of knowledge and technology could be applicable to the school in ensuring a safe and health environment of the school.