MALAYSIA:::MTUC wants employers to emphasis safety at workplace

SHAH ALAM: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress has urged employers to strictly abide by the provisions in the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 to prevent workplace accidents and deaths of employees.

 MTUC deputy secretary-general A. Balasubramaniam said employers should give priority to safety at the workplace as the current focus of most employers appeared to be meeting the production schedule or construction target. “Safety at the workplace is one of the fundamental rights of workers. The Department of Occupational Safety and Health under the Human Resources Ministry should ensure that Section 15 of the OSH Act is strictly enforced. “Department officials must make it a point to conduct regular inspection of workplaces as the safety of workers must be the primary concern,” he told Bernama. Balasubramaniam said Section 15 of the OSH Act clearly stated that it “shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person to ensure, so far as is practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of all his employees.” He said many work-related accidents in Malaysia drew public attention, with the recent one on June 22 where three workers were killed and 19 others injured when the roof of a three-­storey structure under construction at a shopping mall collapsed in Alor Gajah, Melaka. In another incident, a Bangladeshi worker was killed in an accident at the Tun Razak Exchange MRT underground construction site in Kuala Lumpur in May. --BERNAMA

source:::http://www.nst.com.my