NIOSH: Stringent enforcement, monitoring vital

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no “silver bullet” to curb construction accidents, except through stringent enforcement and monitoring by the authorities.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) vice-chairman Datuk T. Mohan said the authorities must be responsible for ensuring that approved construction sites were hazard-free.

He said the Malaysia Highway Authority (LLM), for example, had to play a key role when it came to enforcement.

“LLM must mobilise its safety officers to monitor standard operating procedures (SOP) compliance of highway projects nationwide.

“Cases like the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) incident (on Sunday) is because of negligence of individuals due to the lack of enforcement.

“In fact, the construction workers didn’t even put up proper signage for traffic diversion.

“They had just one worker stationed at the diversion point, which is not the right SOP.”

He said the onus was also on local councils, such as Kuala Lumpur City Hall, to enforce and implement safety regulations at construction sites that it had approved.

“Their officers should make more impromptu visits to construction sites to keep developers on their toes,” he told the New Straits Times.

Mohan said enforcement by the authorities should be in tandem with NIOSH’s efforts to boost awareness about occupational safety and health among construction companies and their workers.

“On one hand, NIOSH works to nurture competent construction workers by providing them with safety training. On the other hand, the local council enforcement arm must take errant developers to task.

“Only then can we prevent incidents like the one at SUKE from recurring.”

He said the few bad apples flouting safety regulations did not reflect the larger group of law-abiding industry players in the construction sector.

He said it was unlikely that the SUKE incident occurred due to low-quality materials being used in the highway’s construction.

“The developers are well aware that their licence can be revoked if they try to compromise on the quality of materials used. So, I don’t think they are willing to do that.”

He was commenting on the accident at a SUKE construction site on Sunday, when a parapet wall slab fell onto a moving car along the Middle Ring Road 2.

The female driver broke her left hand and collarbone in the incident.

Last year, a 47-year-old man was killed instantly after a crane that he was driving collapsed on him at a housing project site in Taman Maju, Jalan Ipoh-Lumut.

Mohan’s sentiment was echoed by Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health Practitioners president Datuk Dr Kanagaraja Raman, who said there should be proper traffic diversion systems at construction sites.

He said proper road diversion, along with hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control, as well as safety equipment like safety catch nets, were crucial in ensuring safety.

“From a non-governmental organisation’s perspective, we are trying our best to provide more occupational safety and health (OSH) education and awareness to the public, as well as providing site safety supervisor training, safety induction for construction workers and others.

“Workers should familiarise themselves with the related Malaysian laws (Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and Factories and Machinery Act 1967), so that they understand their responsibilities in OSH,” he said.

Source: NST