Fadillah: SGH fire may be due to negligence
Borneo Post Online, 17 February 2014
Fadillah (fourth left) being briefed by Nor Hisham (third left) on the affected area due to the fire that broke out at the auditorium of SGH Clinical Research Centre wing. Also seen are (from right) Dr Mohd Asri, Manyin and Zuraimi (third left). — Bernama photo
Fadillah (second right) being briefed by Nor Hisham (right) on the locations and wards affected by the fire on Saturday at SGH. Also seen (from left) are Zuraimi and Manyin. — Bernama photo
KUCHING: Negligence might have led to the fire at the auditorium of the soon-to-be-completed Clinical Research Centre wing of Sarawak General Hospital (SGH) on Saturday.
Works Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof said yesterday the failure of the contractor and workers to comply with standard operating procedure and occupational safety and health specified at the work site might have led to the incident.
“From the way I see it, this incident might have happened as a result of the contractor’s negligence. He might have failed to follow standard operating procedure,” he told a press conference after visiting the fire scene yesterday.
Fadillah, who is also Petra Jaya MP, said he regretted the incident that happened at 5pm on Saturday, in which Indonesia worker Teguh Praytino, in his 30s, succumbed to smoke inhalation.
The fire and thick smoke forced the evacuation of 151 patients, ranging from babies to the elderly, from nine wards.
Fadillah said the state Fire and Rescue Services Department (Bomba) forensic unit was investigating the fire while the Public Works Department (PWD), the agency entrusted to supervise the RM35 million project, would set up a special team to conduct independent investigation and assess losses.
“The (PWD) team will go into detail the effect of the fire, although the fire did not affect the building, except for the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E Department) and Intensive Care Unit wards.
“Since the project is still under insurance coverage, they will also look at the insurance claims for the project and the worker who died.”
Fadillah said normally when an untoward incident happened to a worker, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) would investigate, and they would have the final say whether the project could continue.
“Based on our experience, normally DOSH will stop work at the project site until investigation is completed. We hope DOSH will not totally stop work at the site so that work can resume in other areas besides the auditorium.”
When asked on action that could be taken against the contractor, Fadillah said since the construction of the project was still in progress, it was up to DOSH to determine whether rules and regulations in terms of occupational safety and health had been violated.
“On the part of the Works Ministry, we have Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), which is the promoter of the construction industry and regulator to the contractors in terms of licensing. The action to be taken by CIDB will depend on the investigation outcome by DOSH.”
Meanwhile, Fadillah said the fire on Saturday did not affect the hospital’s overall operation and system.
“In general, the operation and system at the main hospital building were not affected. The one that is affected is the area under construction.”
As only the A&E Department ward could not be used because of the smell as a result of the fire, Fadillah said his officers would be working together with Bomba to accelerate the cleaning process so that the ward could be used as soon as possible.
“I understand that the A&E Department treats patients with Asthma and they are very sensitive to the smell. We hope we will be able to get rid of the smell and clean the area so that the ward can be opened immediately.”
Among those accompany Fadillah during his visit site of the fire were Minister of Communication and Infrastructure Development Dato Sri Michael Manyin Jawong, state PWB director Zuraimi Sabki, state Bomba director Nor Hisham Mohamad, State PWD Southern Region manager Vincent Tang and SGH deputy director Dr Mohd Asri Riffin.
