Sandakan: Safety in workplace can be easily practiced if employers are mindful of the need to implement safety measures in their premises.
Chairman of the National Institute of Safety and Health (Niosh) Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said that the inculcating of work safety culture among employees must come from employers themselves.
"We can all avoid and prevent accidents from taking place in our workplaces," he told reporters here yesterday while pointing out that accidents at workplaces in the country had gone down over the years.
He said every organization must take the cue that their employees would be productive if mishaps did not occur.
"As employers, they must take the lead and inculcate work safety among the employees. We cannot just think of profit and forgetting that the employees are always facing unnecessary danger," he said.
On the drop of work mishaps, he said in 2002, there were 81,810 cases reported in the country while last year there were 59,897 cases reported despite having more business premises.
Lee said of the 81,810 work mishaps reported in 2002, 63,423 were considered industrial accidents.
However, he said mishaps involving work travels had gone up with 24,089 cases reported last year compared to 18,387 in 2002.
Perkeso has paid out RM712.8 million in compensation to injured workers in 2002 and the figure has shot up to RM1.7 billion, last year.
Earlier, Lee officiated at the safety and health awareness for workers in the tourism and hospitality industry seminar.
He said employers would lose more if they forsake workers' safety as they would lose many man hours and also getting into trouble with the law.
He added that employers must also ensure that their vehicles used by workers were maintained well to avoid any road mishaps and business losses.
--Courtesy of New Sabah Times