New Strait Times, 28 Sept 2013

I APPLAUD City Hall for its establishment of 54 monitoring teams to ensure that contractors adhere to guidelines and conditions when building public facilities in the city. (Streets, Sept 18)

According to Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib, the teams comprising City Hall personnel from various departments will monitor the contractors and their work during and after construction by examining the materials used and monitoring the building process.

It is high time the local authority checked and monitored all public facility projects undertaken by contractors to overcome problems like poor quality building materials, cutting corners and shoddy workmanship.

These problems, which affect public safety, must be addressed at the construction stage to avoid accidents that may lead to injuries or deaths.

Ensuring better occupational safety and health standards at all sites where construction activities are carried out will also prevent workplace accidents, which have a high rate in the construction industry.

Better supervision and monitoring of contractors and their work during construction will also help prevent various forms of leakages, which will only add to the costs of the projects.

Badly-designed or badly-built projects will also lead to constant repairs and upgrades, which will impose additional financial burden on the local authority.

But the most critical reason for supervision and monitoring is public safety, which must never be compromised.

Another important issue is the need for the local authority to ensure a culture of good maintenance for all public facilities.

Poor maintenance has been the constant bane of our community and City Hall should set an example for all the local authorities in the country by embracing a culture of good maintenance.

City Hall's move to set up monitoring teams to ensure the better performance of all contractors must be emulated by all other local authorities in the country in the interest of occupational safety and health and public safety.

Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health chairman

New Straits Times, 27 August 2013

PREVENTION BETTER THAN CURE : NIOSH credited with raising awareness.

KUALA LUMPUR: WORK-RELATED accidents have been  steadily declining in the last 10 years, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot Jaem.

"This is because of the continuous training and conferences held by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)," he said when launching the 16th Conference and Exhibition of Occupational Safety and Health (COSH 16) 2013 here yesterday.

Jaem said the number of industrial accidents last year was nearly half from that 10 years ago -- from 63,423 accidents in 2002 to 35,311 last year.

"We have to thank NIOSH, which has been tackling this problem for a long time.

"Kudos to their hard work in making employers and employees realise the importance of preventive measures. As they say, prevention is better than cure."

The annual three-day event is being held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. It will be attended by 1,700 local and foreign participants.

Earlier, NIOSH chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the conference's main aim was to instil greater awareness and understanding of the importance of occupational safety and health towards zero-accident at work.

"Since its inception in 1998, COSH has served as the premier platform for OSH professionals in Malaysia to share and update their knowledge and skills to meet changes in the Malaysian working environment."

According to the International Labour Organisation, of the 2.34 million occupational fatalities every year globally, only 321,000 deaths were caused by accidents, he added.

Lee said the rest was caused by work-related diseases.

He said diseases, such as pneumoconiosis, remained widespread, while new ones such as mental and musculoskeletal disorders were on the rise.

He also said there were some 160 million cases of non-fatal work-related disease worldwide annually.

Star Metro, 2 July 2013

RHB Bank recently launched a campaign to promote a safe and healthy working environment among employees

The Occupational Safety and Health Campaign 2013 aims to achieve a healthier work environment as well as reduce workplace accidents.

“Making the workplace safe is a joint responsibility of both employer and employees.

“An effective health and safety system in the workplace can have a positive effect on productivity and, therefore, on an organisation’s success,” said RHB Banking Group managing director Kellee Kam.

He added that based on internal findings, most health issues were stress-related while in terms of physical injury, they usually were orthopaedic in nature affecting the hands/ wrists and shoulders.

The RHB Banking Group has put in place various measures to assist staff in managing work-related health and safety issues. These include setting up a gym as well as producing a handbook to educate and raise awareness on health and safety.

Health awareness programmes, including talks and training sessions, are also held and employees are encouraged to participate in extra-curricular and outdoor activities.

This year, in conjunction with RHB Bank’s 100th anniversary, an expedition to Mt Kinabalu will be organised.

The three-day campaign was launched by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Also present was RHB Bank Berhad chairman Tan Sri Azlan Zainol.

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