Employers Who Cover Up Industrial Accidents
By M. Hamzah Jamaludin
09 April 2001
IPOH, Perak, Malaysia --The Department of Occupational Safety and Health claimed that there are still employers who cover up accident cases at their premises to avoid getting penalised.
Its State director, Amir Yahya, however said affected employers should remember that their irresponsible actions would sooner or later be detected when the victims submitted their claims for compensation to the Social Security Organisation (Socso).
"Their scam will also be exposed when the media reports such incidents or when the workers involve lodge reports with the unions," he told reporters after launching the State-level inspection exercise at construction sites here.
He said the latest case in Perak involved a factory manufacturing cooking utensils in Pantai Remis which failed to inform the agency although there were more than 10 accidents which happened in its premises last year.
Amir said the employer was later caught and charged this year when one of the employees, whose fingers were severed by the pressing machine at the factory, lodged a report with the union.
Employers who failed to report an accident at their premises can be fined a maximum of RM5,000 for each offence under the Factories and Machinery Act 1967.
Amir said the number of accidents at workplace in Perak had increased to 508 cases last year compared to 442 cases in 1999 while fatal accidents increased to 10 cases last year compared to nine cases the previous year.
For last year, he said the construction sector recorded the highest ratio of fatal accidents _ four out of 15, followed by agriculture sector (1:39) and factories (4:442).
He said the most common accidents at construction sites were either the victims falling from high structures or being hit by falling objects.
The accidents, according to Amir, could be avoided if the workers and their supervisors followed all the safety procedures outlined by the department.
He said during the four-day inspection at construction sites, the department officials would among others increased the safety aspect and create awareness on safety among the workers.
Source: The New Straitstimes, Malaysia.  |
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