Tighten S.O.P to prevent recurrence, urges safety expert
KUALA LUMPUR: Road safety specialists have called on the authorities to tighten the standard operating procedures (SOP) at construction sites.
This is to prevent a recurrence of accidents following the latest incident on Monday when a gantry crane collapsed at a site near Puncak Banyan, Persiaran Alam Damai, Cheras, killing three foreign workers and injuring one road user.
Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) road safety specialist Professor Dr Law Teik Hua said such incidents should not have happened as the government had already given a reminder to improve safety at highway construction sites.
“This repeat of a mishap involving several casualties is very disappointing.
“What’s worrying is that the victims were not only construction site workers but also members of the public passing by the area,” he said,
Project developers, he said, needed to review the existing SOP, identify and strengthen weaknesses to ensure that such accidents do not recur.
“We can urge road users to be careful when passing through the areas under construction but how will they know when a crane structure is going to collapse and fall on them?
“It is the responsibility of the developer to prevent such accidents from happening,” he told Bernama.
Law also recommended that alternative routes be created for road users, as an immediate safety measure.
On the proposal to impose heavy fines and penalties on developers for negligence, Law said the move would not solve the problem of accidents at construction sites.
“After they (developers) pay the fine, where is the (safety) assurance to road users?”
On March 3, two women died while three others were injured after the van they were travelling in was crushed after a trailer crashed into the iron scaffolding of the highway near Desa Tun Razak.
Last September, a woman escaped death when a concrete slab from the ongoing SUKE Highway construction fell and hit the car she was travelling in at the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2).
Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Malaysian Institute of Transport, Corporate Communication and Industrial Linkages head Dr Irwan Ibrahim said various factors could lead to crane accidents at construction sites.
“A study of crane accidents at construction sites in Malaysia by researchers from Universiti Tun Hussein Onn and Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2019 found that the main causes were due to operational and technical factors.
“The elements that contribute to the accidents were structural and mechanical failure of the crane components, while other factors include safety management aspects, human factors and environmental issues.”