9,429 CONSTRUCTION SITES ISSUED NOTICES
Construction industry recorded highest number of fatalities in 2018
THE development of the construction industry has raised occupational safety and health issues while creating many jobs.
Occupational safety and health advocate Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said based on the number of fatalities and injuries arising from construction accidents in the country, these issues could no longer be ignored.
He said the Department of Occupational Safety and Health issued 9,429 notices last year from 10,917 construction sites inspected.
The notices included 740 compounds and 113 cases filed for safety and health offences.
Lee urged the department to intensify preventive enforcement activities in the highrisk sector by applying latest enforcement measures and updated risk-control technology.
“The statistics showed that there were 169 deaths and 3,911 accidents in the construction sector in 2018, with the rate of fatality per 100,000 workers in the construction industry at 13.44 in 2018, compared with 14.57 in 2017.
“The construction industry recorded the highest number of fatalities in 2018, compared with other sectors.” he said during the Third Safety and Quality Forum, themed ‘Safety and Quality towards Project Delivery Excellence’, organised by the Sarawak Public Works Department here on Tuesday.
“This should serve as a reminder to us that we should never be complacent when it comes to occupational safety and health.”
He said safety and health budgets should be included as criteria for hiring contractors to promote health and safety aspects in the industry.
Lee said the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 needed to be amended and must include an increase in the penalty for non-compliance, so that workers are safer at construction sites.