Lam Thye: Blacklist errant contractors - The Star Online
The Star Online, 20 November 2014
NUSAJAYA: With an average of 680 industrial accidents daily, mostly at construction sites, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) wants the Government to blacklist errant contractors.
Institute chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said that in a statistic given by the Social Security Organisation (Socso), 36,621 accidents involving employees were recorded until July this year.
Industrial accidents accounted for 20,418 of these cases while 16,203 cases came under the commuting accidents category for the first six months of 2014.
He urged developers and agencies involved in the construction industry to work closely with NIOSH in providing training on safety.
“Contractors with bad safety records should be blacklisted by the Government to prevent accidents from happening.
“It is up to the relevant ministry and the Government on blacklisting such contractors as it will also be a reminder to others to follow the safety aspect when carrying out the project,” Lee said after officiating UEM Sunrise Berhad’s sustainability campaign 2014 at Puteri Harbour here yesterday.
Lee added that most of the industrial accidents occurred at construction sites due to the presence of heavy machinery and occupational hazards that included potentially dangerous surrounding environment.
He pointed out that investigations conducted by the Department of Safety and Health found that most contractors failed to follow the required site safety rules.
