WORKPLACE ACCIDENTS UNDER-REPORTED
Actual number could be 10 times higher than reported
THE actual number of workplace accidents could be 10 times higher than reported to the Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH).
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) said statistics from the Social Security Organisation (Socso) revealed that industrial accident cases were under-reported, especially those involving non-fatal accidents or less-severe cases.
NIOSH chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said based on a study by Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, the difference between the accidents reported to the two agencies was 97.49 per cent.
The study titled “Malaysian Construction Industry: Trends of Occupational Accidents from 2006 to 2015” was published in the Journal of Occupational Safety and Health 2016.
The research showed that although 31,347 accidents in the construction sector were reported to Socso from 2009 to 2014, the number of cases investigated by DOSH stood at only 787 cases.
Lee said victims or their next of kin would lodge a report with Socso to claim benefits after an accident.
He said there was a possibility that accidents in the construction sector were much higher as most workers were foreigners.
“Socso figures cover only those who have contributed to it.
“The data is incomplete since there are no statistics on unregistered local and foreign workers,” he said here yesterday.
Lee said the lack of accurate data would have a negative impact on the safety and welfare of workers in the construction industry.