KUCHING: From the beginning of this year up until August, the Sarawak Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) has prosecuted 28 cases in court and issued 22 compounds, with a total penalty of RM679,500.
Sarawak DOSH director Dr Nor Halim Hasan stated that these were from non-compliance of occupational safety and health (OSH) rules in place.
“These employers who were charged or issued compounds failed to obey the rules and regulations under the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 or the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994,” he elaborated at a press conference at the OSH-C SMI Sarawak appreciation ceremony at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching here, yesterday.
As per Section 15 of OSHA 1994, employers are responsible for ensuring the safety, health and welfare of all employees.
Meanwhile, Section 24 (1) of the Act states that employees are responsible for ensuring reasonable care for the safety and health of themselves and others who may be affected by their actions in the workplace.
“Most of these cases involve Section 15 whereby the employer fails to prepare a safe working environment for workers,” Dr Nor Halim revealed.
While he said that there were not many cases pertaining to employees, he pointed out that there had been a case involving a crane operator just last year.
“Therefore, I urge all parties—be they employers or employees—to carry out their responsibilities to ensure OSH in the workplace,” he sounded.
According to him, sectors that incurred a high number of accidents were manufacturing and construction.
Touching on the recent rule update on noise exposure placed under OSHA 1994 which came into effect on June 1 this year, Dr Nor Halim remarked, “It is still the early stages. We will disseminate the information first so that the industry players will understand it.”
He added that enforcement would be applied after a series of briefings was completed, and he believed this would take about a year.
With regard to maintaining OSH during this prevailing haze, the director stated that it was the responsibility of the employer to take this into account for their workers, particularly in sectors dealing with increased environmental exposure.
