It’s time for a fresh focus
THE statistics on industrial accidents, commuting accidents and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the workplace indicate that insufficient attention has been given to commuting accidents and the health of employees.
It appears that workers comply with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) requirements within company premises or worksites only, but pay less attention to their own health and road safety.
The last decade saw a significant increase in accidents involving workers in road accidents while travelling to or returning from work.
According to Socso statistics, there were 28,579 commuting accidents last year, which represents a whopping 65.3% increase from 17,297 cases in 2005.
On the other hand, the number of industrial accidents has fallen significantly during the same period.
Industrial accidents dropped nearly 22% from 43,885 cases in 2005 to 34,272 cases in 2015.
The inverse trend of accidents in the workplace and commuting accidents shows a discrepancy in safety and accident prevention measures implemented by employers.
Socso statistics also show that the number of workers with NCDs such as heart diseases, diabetes, hypertension, stroke and others is on the rise.
Between 2005 and 2015, reported NCD cases in the workplace more than doubled to 15,173 cases, from 6,775 cases in 2005.
As a result, the number of mandays lost due to workplace accidents, commuting accidents and NCDs is also on the upward trend.
A greater number of accidents and deaths means higher total compensation to be paid by Socso to workers or their dependants. This is due to temporary or permanent disabilities, or death, through Temporary Disablement Benefit, Permanent Disablement Benefit, Invalidity Scheme or Survivors’ Pension.
This is something that every OSH stakeholder should seriously look into and find ways to address as Malaysia cannot afford to lose valuable human resources to industrial and road accidents, or diseases.
OSH should be observed in totality, which include workers’ health and their safety while travelling to and returning from work.
Campaigns to educate workers on road safety and promote healthy lifestyles should be intensified at both national and enterprise level.
A healthy family starts from the workplace because adults spend about a third or more of their time during weekdays at work.
Company owners should work with relevant agencies and NGOs to come up with appropriate road safety programmes for the workers.
The workers need to be reminded to observe road safety regulations just as they adhere to safety requirements at work.
As the majority of road accidents involve motorcyclists, the focus should be on workers who ride to work.
To promote workers’ health and prevent NCDs, workplace health promotion programmes should incorporate healthy working environments and supportive management practices.
These include work organisation to prevent stress and fatigue, allowing employees to have worklife balance, providing facilities or supportive programmes for active living and healthy eating, flexible working hours to accommodate employees who exercise, stress management programmes and implementation of human resource practices relating to employee recognition and job satisfaction.
Meanwhile, insurance firms should not focus solely on benefits and premium contributions. Although they are profit-oriented, they should launch educational campaigns on accident prevention and health promotion as part of their CSR programmes.
Fewer accidents or diseases mean a smaller amount of compensation paid to the beneficiaries, which in turn will enable Socso and insurance firms to use compensation payments for other purposes such as better benefits.
It is essential to integrate Guidelines on Commuting Safety Management and Workplace Health Promotion into OSH policies and OSH management systems in all organisations.
The move will contribute to building a preventive culture as well as improve the well-being of workers, increase productivity and performance, and reduce pressure on healthcare, welfare and social security systems.