Dosh has guidelines to ensure working at height is safe
SIBU: The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) has introduced guidelines for the Prevention of Falls at Workplaces to ensure working at height is safe.
According to Dosh, most of the fall from height incidents could be prevented and avoided by taking the most basic and necessary safety measures.
Dosh has introduced the guidelines to advise on steps to be taken, the type of PPE to be provided to workers and how risk assessment can be carried out to ensure working at height is safe.
In stating this, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, noted according to Dosh, most of the fall from height incidents could be prevented and avoided by taking the most basic and necessary safety measures.
“Under the guidelines, PPE shall also be worn when there is a possibility that the failure to wear such equipment could result in serious harm,” Lee said of Dosh guidelines.
He added: “Such equipment should comply with the relevant Malaysian Standard, or an acceptable international Standard, and specialist PPE will be needed in certain circumstances.”
Lee pointed out that although the guidelines has no force of law, it provides clear written guidance on the recommended safety measures to enable the employers or self-employed to discharge their statutory duties to as far as is practicable as stipulated under Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994.
He said this when asked to comment on a fatal incident in Sibu where a carpenter fell to his death while working at a construction site in Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce Road on Aug 17.
On March 29, an air conditioner cleaner suffered injuries after falling from the first floor of a government building at Chia Tze Chin Road in Miri.
Lee said under OSHA 1994, it is the responsibility of both employers and their workers to ensure the safety and health at workplace and those who failed to do so could be fined or charged in court.
“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.
“It is also the responsibility of employers to provide training and personal protective equipment (PPE) while for employees, it is their responsibility to wear it,” he added.
They must also adhere to the Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 and follow the Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls at Workplaces that was issued by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) in 2007.
“Under Regulation 12 (Working at a height) of the Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970, practicable means that could ensure the safety of a person working more than 10 feet high must be provided, including the use of safety belt or rope.
“Any person who commits an offence against the regulation could be fined not exceeding RM1,000.”
According to Lee, Niosh has also played its role in reducing work at height accidents through training programmes and consultancy services.