Boarding schools should focus on safety, health aspects — Lee

LABUAN: More focus should be given to safety and health aspects in boarding schools as students, teachers and support staff are at the premises all the time.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health ( Niosh) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the situation in boarding schools was different from normal schools where the students would return home after classes or when the co- curricular activities have ended.

“Given the enormous responsibility of the boarding school management, I would like to call for a more efficient occupational safety and health ( OSH) management system, to prevent any untoward incident and illness at the premises,” he said at an OSH Programme at Sekolah Menengah Sains Labuan here yesterday.

Also present were Niosh Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan regional manager Wan Sarman Sakan, SM Sains Labuan Alumni Association (Samudera) president Suhaili Dikar and Labuan deputy education director Martin Abd Rahman.

According to him, the school management should set up a Safety and Health Committee and adopt the concept of ‘Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control’ or HIRARC.

He said if the HIRARC concept was in place, teachers and students would definitely understand that risky activities would cause accidents if not managed properly.

Lee said under the Occupational Safety and Health Act ( OSHA) 1994, the school administration as an employer should assume responsibility to ensure the safety, health and welfare of all parties at their premises. — Bernama