Employers should be proactive on workers safety

KUALA LUMPUR: National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said employers should be more proactive and committed to help prevent accidents involving their employees.
He said this being that the employees were important assets in their organisation.
He said it was crucial for employers to organise more awareness campaigns and road safety programmes, which included defensive driving and safe riding techniques with the help of instructors and experts.
"Employers should invite road safety experts to share their knowledge and demonstrate defensive driving and riding techniques that could help workers avoid accidents.
"They could also educate workers on relevant laws and how to maintain their vehicles so that they are always in a roadworthy condition. Poor maintenance could lead to engine and mechanical problems that could cause accidents," he said in a statement here today.
Lee said this in response to a statement by Human Resources Minister M. Kula Segaran on the safe travel clause in workers' safety policy at the workplace on Tuesday
Lee said all employers should respond to the call by the minister and focus should be given to motorcyclists and pillion riders as a joint study carried out by the Social Security Organisation (Socso) and Universiti Teknologi Mara showed that they made up 76.9% of the total commuting accidents.
He said it was also because 52% of accidents occurred when workers were travelling to their workplaces with more than 55% of the accidents occurring when the workers were within 5km from their workplaces.
According to Socso, there were a total 33,319 cases road accident and 667 fatalities last year. It also found that on average, two deaths occurred due to road accidents per day.
"Behavioural changes are also important and among the bad behaviours are driving above the speed limit, using mobile phones, not wearing a helmet in a correct way and driving in a reckless manner," he said.
Lee said, Niosh, with the collaboration of Socso, conducted Safe Motorcycle Riding and Defensive Driving for Workers every year and in the past five years, about 5,000 workers had participated in the training programme. — Bernama