Borneo Post Online, 12 December 2012
KOTA KINABALU: Most factories and employers in Malaysia do not appear keen to invest in their workers’ safety, said Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) Sabah chairman Jay Rahman.
He made this statement highlighting the attitude of most factories and employers in the country towards the safety and wellbeing of their workers as a way of impressing on members of FMM on the dire situation after launching the FMM Safety Conference on “Making Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) A Culture At the Workplace” yesterday.
“There seem to be no serious effort (on the part of the employers) towards workers’ safety…it is a cost to them. And this is why we want OSH to be a Malaysian culture,” he said.
In his speech earlier, Jay, who is a member of the FMM National Council, mentioned that investing to improve OSH at the workplace should not be seen as a cost but should be regarded as a productivity booster.
“We know from many observations that the improvement in workplace environment was the results of good safety and health work practices and the adoption of a work safety culture,” he said.
He added that while there appeared to be increasing awareness about the need for a safe and healthy work environment, only a sustained commitment to an OSH management system would help to inculcate the OSH culture in the organization.
“That is why we have chosen the theme for our safety conference today, ‘Making OSH A Culture At the Workplace’. I think with the rapid increase of global competitiveness, companies should not only make safety a priority but to ensure that it becomes a culture in the organization,” he said.
Meanwhile, Social Security Organisation State Director Mariam Haji Hassan concurred with Jay’s comments on the negative attitudes of employers on matters relating to OSH.
“They view it as an obligation, a cost,” she said.