GELANG PATAH: Johor Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) aims to reduce the number of fatalities at construction sites by ensuring safety measures were in place.

Its director, Saiful Azhar Mohd Said, said there were 45 workplace-related fatalities reported in Johor last year, of which 27 cases were at construction sites.

In 2016, he said, there were 40 fatalities at workplaces, half at construction sites.

“It is rather worrying as 50% of workplace-related fatalities in Johor were at construction sites,” Saiful said after presenting a lost-time injury free certificate to Giant Leap Sdn Bhd here.

Saiful said last year, the department had charged 17 building contractors for various offences committed at construction sites and the penalties totalled RM172,000.

During the same period, 80 compounds were issued to 25 contractors at high-rise development projects in the Johor Baru district for failing to observe safety guidelines and procedures.

“To date, there are 1,100 sites in the state with thousands of workers and we will continuously monitor construction sites in Johor,’’ he said.

Saiful said the fatal accidents at the construction sites included falls from high places, lifting of heavy materials, malfunctioning machinery and non-competent workforce.

He said the high number of construction sites in Johor was due to vast development in Iskandar Malaysia and the integrated petrochemical complex in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi.

“There are some 70,000 workers in Pengerang petrochemical complex alone and 8,000 in Forest City project,’’ said Saiful.

He said more workforce would be needed in Johor for the construction of four major infrastructure projects scheduled to take place within the next five to 10 years.

The multi-billion ringgit projects include the High Speed Rail, Johor Baru-Singapore Rail Transit Link, Gemas-Johor Baru double-tracking electrified train project and Iskandar Malaysia Bus Rapid Transit.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2018/03/14/ensuring-safety-at-construction-sites-in-johor-dosh-aims-to-reduce-fatalities-especially-with-more-m/#bRIZ43MMFBiEWWEV.99

Saturday, 10 Mar 2018 - 

PETALING JAYA: A foreign worker was killed and four other­­s were injured when a metal scaffolding toppled over and landed on them.

Police have yet to release the name of the deceased, aged 18, from Indonesia.

The four injured, aged between 20 and 35, received treatment at the Sungai Buloh hospital.

The latest incident early yesterday at a factory, which is still under construction in Bukit Beruntung, was the third in less than two weeks.

Hulu Selangor OCPD Supt Lim Bak Phai said the cause of the incident was still under investigation.

The Department of Occupa­tional Safety and Health has also launched an investigation into the incident.

“We are aware of it and a team has been sent to assess the situation.

“If we find any evidence of non-compliance at the site, action will be taken against the company involved,” said deputy director-general (occupational safety and health) Omar Mat Piah.

He said the onus was on the employer to ensure good safety practices were in place and enforced.

The partial collapse of a launching gantry at a Jinjang MRT site killed a worker on March 3.

On Feb 26, the toppling of a crane at a construction site of the SUKE Expressway project along the Middle Ring Road 2 injured a man and resulted in a bad traffic congestion.

National Institute of Occu­pa­tional Safety and Health chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said all those involved in the construction industry must be committed to safety.

“The construction industry is a high-risk industry. Safety is not something to be taken for granted.

“While waiting for the outcome of the investigation, I hope all parties would take the necessary measures to adopt the best practices to ensure safety at construction sites,” he said.

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/03/10/foreign-worker-killed-by-falling-scaffolding-four-others-also-hurt-in-third-incident-in-less-than-tw/#SXLP9xgyBGyyX1jw.99

Thursday, 22 Feb 2018 - 

THERE are many working conditions that a person encounters at the workplace on a daily basis which affect his physical and emotional wellbeing.

Excessive work demand, workload and stressful deadlines, long working hours, insufficient staffing, lack of support from co-workers and supervisors, annoying co-workers, angry customers and hazardous working conditions are among the issues that contribute to stress at work. 

Job uncertainties such as impending layoffs, restructuring and management changes are also likely to affect the employee psychologically.

Stress can also arise because of an employer’s wrongful conduct such as harassing or humiliating the worker in the presence of other workers; victimising or targeting a particular member of staff; falsely accusing a worker of criminal misconduct; inappropriately demoting a worker with a substantial reduction in salary, bonus, benefits, status, responsibilities and authority; making a significant change in his job location at short notice; or forcing him to resign.

There is a significant relationship between stress and job performance. Stress is the common denominator for depleting work performance and productivity. Workers affected by occupational stress often show high dissatisfaction in terms of job mobility, burnout and less effective interpersonal relations at work. This may be manifested in behaviours such as persistent lateness or tardiness, taking excessive sick leave or repeated absences.

An employee who absents himself from his workplace on a scheduled workday will inevitably disrupt the employer’s work schedules and customer commitments. To minimise the work disruption caused by an absent employee, a regular worker would in normal circumstances assume the workload.

Long-term stress or traumatic events at work can affect the physical health of the worker. Studies have shown that an employee who is preoccupied with job responsibilities tend to have irregular eating habits and lack regular exercise, resulting in weight problems, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol levels – the onset of heart disease.

Hence, occupational stress should be viewed seriously by the employer, who has an obligation to take reasonable care of the safety and health of his workers. Breach of this duty may place the employer in legal predicament. The affected worker may file a civil claim against the employer for negligence or for failure to provide a safe place of work. In other words, the employer can be held liable for an employee’s psychiatric illness arising from occupational or work- related stress. It is therefore important for the employer to ensure that workers are not burdened beyond their capacity to carry out the task or assignment.

Workers should also be treated with courtesy, politeness and kindness regardless of their position in the organisation. It goes without saying that treating workers with dignity and respect will make a great difference in the person’s productivity and creativity, besides fostering greater employee engagement in the organisation.

PROFESSOR DATUK SRI DR ASHGAR ALI ALI MOHAMED

Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws

International Islamic University Malaysia

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/02/22/price-to-pay-for-stress-at-work/#XJJUJGmPkaOivylC.99

Monday, 8 Jan 2018 -  AT the start of a new year, NIOSH wishes to reiterate its commitment to contribute towards the achievement of an occupational safety and health (OSH) culture at all workplaces in both the public and private sector.

This will be done through discharging its responsibilities as an institute to provide training, consultancy services, research and development as well as information dissemination.

Through its advocacy of “Bridging the OSH Gap through a Prevention Culture”, NIOSH calls on managements responsible for the safety and health at the workplace to change the attitude and perception of their employees on safety and health through OSH awareness programmes, effective OSH management, OSH competency and, most important, accident prevention culture.

It is no longer adequate to merely provide job instructions to workers without supplementing them with the appropriate skills and competency needed through education and training. They must understand the rationale of minimising risks to their safety and health as well as meeting the industrial and OSHMS requirements.

The overall responsibility for providing a safe and healthy working environment rests with the employers who should demonstrate their commitment to OSH. This can be done by building and maintaining a preventive safety and health culture that addresses the principles of prevention, hazard identification, risk assessment and control, information and training.

Workers, on the other hand, have a duty to cooperate with their employers in implementing OSH programmes. They should observe and adhere to the procedures and other instructions designed to protect them and others present at the workplace from exposure to occupational hazards.

All work-related accidents and ill health can be prevented if there is adequate foresight, planning, organisation and commitment to identify where the hazards are, assess the risks and take action before an accident happens or an illness is contracted.

Preserving human health is the key objective of social security. Promoting and creating a safety and health culture can save lives and reduce costs to society.

It is high time for employers and employees to be fully committed to workplace safety. The Government, employers and employees must be committed to achieving a work culture that ensures safety and health. It must be emphasised that there should be no compromise on safety and health at the workplace.

The culture of an organisation dictates employee behaviour. Thus, the culture determines whether or not any safety programme will be effective.

However, culture is not established by written policies but through effective leadership, day-to-day actions and decisions as well as the system in place that will ensure OSH is practised by managers, supervisors and work teams.

Leading effectively means knowing how to inspire people to channel their energies towards adopting OSH best practices. The quality of leadership shown by the management is vital in developing high standards of health and safety practices. Ultimately, when OSH is integrated into the organisational culture and becomes a core value, involvement and commitment from top management down to the rank-and-file employees can be further reinforced.

TAN SRI LEE LAM THYE

Chairman

NIOSH Malaysia

Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2018/01/08/year-to-commit-to-occupational-safety/#03lKCPSbFCjo8aQ1.99