IPOH: Employers are urged to identify, assess safety hazards and manage risks effectively in the workplace before employees start work.
Perak Department of Occupational Safety and Health (JKKP) director Dr Rabaayah Daud said this was to reduce safety risks for workers and to prevent accidents.
“Perak JKKP views seriously every accident involving workers and the public and will take legal action against the responsible party should there be violations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994,“ she said in a statement today.
The warning came following an incident in which a local male in his 20s was killed after the lorry he was driving plunged into the sea in Lumut last Wednesday.
Rabaayah said Perak JKKP has issued a directive to employers at the Lumut Maritime Terminal to take improvement measures to prevent a repeat of such incident.
According to her, the initial investigation found that the victim was a truck driver who was working the night shift and was assigned with limestone unloading work.
“The lorry operated by the victim was approaching the end of the pier when it plunged into the sea. A rescue operation was mounted and the victim’s body which was stuck in the lorry was retrieved at 9.45am and taken to Seri Manjung Hospital for post-mortem,“ she said.
She said the accident could have been avoided if the employer had carried out a comprehensive risk assessment and control in accordance with the Guidelines for Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC).
Meanwhile, Rabaayah said an order prohibiting interference has been issued pending further investigation into the incident in which two Bangladeshi men died after being trapped in an overturned excavator at a quarry site in Simpang Pulai here last Wednesday.
“A rectification notice has been issued to the employer for failing to provide a safe work system on operating the excavator at the quarry site,” she said. -Bernama