Onus on employers and workers to ensure adherence to OSHA 1994, says Niosh chief
SIBU: Employers and those working at high places must discharge their statutory duties as far as they are practicable under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994.
According to National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, this is to ensure that incidents such as the latest one in Miri, where a worker suffered injuries after falling from the first level of a government building, would not recur.
It is reported that the victim slipped from the upper floor while cleaning the airconditioning unit.
“Under OSHA 1994, it is the responsibility of both employers and their workers to ensure health and safety at the workplace.
“Employers and contractors who fail to provide a safe and healthy working environment for their employees can be charged under Section 15 of OSHA 1994, which carries a maximum sentence of a RM50,000 fine, or two years’ jail, or both,” said Lee in a statement yesterday.
“It is also the responsibility of employers to provide training and personal protective equipment (PPE) while for the employees, it is their responsibility to wear it.
“They must also adhere to the Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 and the Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls at Workplaces, issued by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) in 2007,” he added.
Lee said under Regulation 12 (Working at a Height) of Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970, the term ‘practicable’ meant to ensure that the safety of a person working on an area at a level of more than 10 feet (about 3m) above-ground, must be provided with safety equipment – including safety belts or ropes.
“Any person who commits an offence against the regulation could be fined not exceeding RM1,000.”
He further said under Dosh’s ‘Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls at Workplaces’, the PPE must also be worn whenever there was a possibility that the failure to wear such equipment could result in serious harm.
Lee believed that most fall incidents could have been prevented, if the most basic and necessary safety measures had been observed and implemented.
“Therefore, Dosh has introduced guidelines to provide relevant and important advice on what steps to be taken, the type of PPE to be provided to such workers and how risk assessment can be carried out to ensure that working at height is safe.
“Although the guidelines has no force of law, it provides a clear written guidance on the recommended safety measures to enable the employers or selfemployed persons to discharge their statutory duties to as far as it is practicable, as stipulated under OSHA 1994 .
“Niosh has also played its role in reducing work-at-height accidents through training programmes and consultancy services,” he said.