DOSH: Increasing number of workplace fatalities worrying
SIBU: The shipbuilding industry here has recorded an increasing number of workplace fatalities - from one case last year to four cases in the first quarter of this year.
Three of the four cases involved working in confined space and one a fall from height. The fatality recorded in 2018 also involved falling from a height.
Deputy director- general ( Occupational Health) of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health ( DOSH), Saiful Azhar Mohd Said, said issues related to occupational safety and health (OSH) in shipbuilding and repairing industry had to be taken seriously.
Hence, he said a workshop to develop generic Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, Risk Control ( HIRARC) for the shipbuilding industry here under the compliance support is a good starting point to elevate the OSH level in the industry here.
“We are very concerned with the (workplace) accidents in shipyards here – only one fatality last year but already four in the first three months of this year.
“We view seriously the rate
We are very concerned with the (workplace) accidents in shipyards here – only one fatality last year but already four in the first three months of this year. Saiful Azhar Mohd Said, Deputy director-general (Occupational Health) of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health
of accidents in the shipbuilding sector here, and thus we have devised this workshop to prevent recurrence of workplace accidents in this sector,” Saiful told a press conference after officiating at the opening of the workshop here yesterday.
The workshop was jointly organised by DOSH Sarawak and Sibu Shipyard Association (SSA), which attracted 50 participants. It was divided into three sessions, namely the Do’s and Don’ts; confined space, working at height; and electrical safety.
Meanwhile, DOSH Sarawak director Dr Nor Halim Hasan said that from the nine fatalities recorded in Sarawak this year, four were from Sibu.
“The fatalities in Sibu were related to shipyards while the other five were from various other sectors,”
Nor Halim said investigation was on-going for the four fatalities here, which involved foreigners.
Confined space refers to working in a confined area with only one entrance/exit, and perhaps, with limited oxygen and in the dark.
SSA president Ngieng Ping Sing, meanwhile, thanked DOSH Sarawak for planning, promoting and funding industrial safety and health awareness activities to encourage local shipbuilders to participate so as to equip them and upgrade their safety facilities.
“We also thank the Sarawak government for its emphasis on the local shipbuilding industry, especially this course, which is specifically designed for Sibu’s shipbuilding industry,” Ngieng said.
DOSH Small Medium Industry and Non-Factory Division Sector director Rosnizawati Baharom, Industrial Hygiene and Ergonomic Division director Ahmad Nazri Abd Kader, its Sibu chief Calvin Chin Yen Chih and SSA secretary Dr Renco Yong were also present at the press conference.