Health standard for workers to be endorsed by Asean

PETALING JAYA: Asean labour ministers are set to issue a joint statement endorsing efforts to provide a health standard with appropriate enforcement to protect workers.

The Human Resources Ministry said the statement is expected to be issued at the three-day World Congress on Safety and Health at Work which began yesterday in Singapore.

Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot Jaem, who is representing Malaysia at the congress, will support the Asean Labour Ministers’ Joint Statement on Improving Occupational Safety and Health for Sustainable Economic Growth at the congress, the ministry said in a statement.

“The joint statement will endorse a national preventative safety and health culture, to improve national safe-workplace performance systematically, and provide a health standard with appropriate enforcement to protect workers,” the ministry said.

The minister will also visit Workforce Singapore, a government agency that promotes continuous training across diverse industries and job matching.

“The visit to Singapore will improve bilateral relations and enhance our strategic cooperation in the labour sector,” the ministry added.

The congress is conducted every three years and attracts some 4,000 participants from about 100 countries.

The congress aims to inculcate a mindset that all injuries and ill health arising from work are preventable.

It also hopes to adopt an integrated approach to sustain, protect and promote workplace safety and health, and build inclusive work places, said the ministry.