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Safety aspects of logging being formulatedKUCHING 15 Oct: The Sarawak Timber Association (STA) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) will jointly formulate safety guidelines for the logging industry. The two organisations signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday to undertake research and to collaborate on developing and promoting occupational safety and health standards for the industry. The agreement was signed by Niosh executive secretary P. Munusamy and STA honorary secretary Henry Lau. Niosh chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, who witnessed the signing, said the agreement would pave the way for the drafting of guidelines governing the health and safety of forest workers. “At the moment, Malaysia has no guidelines for the logging industry, so we will be helping the Government to establish a set of safety and health guidelines based on data we will be collecting together with STA,” he told reporters after the signing ceremony at STA headquarters here. Earlier in his speech, Lee said logging was one of the most hazardous occupations in the country and its high accident rate in relation to the number of workers was a matter of concern. Last year, 1,524 logging accidents involving 25 fatalities were reported to Socso while in 2001 there were 1,331 accidents with 30 fatalities and 98 permanent disabilities. He called on logging companies to implement on-site safety and health plans to identify and control potential hazards of specific logging sites to reduce workplace accidents and injuries. Meanwhile, STA chairman Datuk Leo Chai said the association had set up a training and accreditation scheme for forest workers to reduce logging accidents. Through its subsidiary, STA Training Sdn Bhd, the association has trained about 900 tree-fellers so far. |
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15 October 2003
MTC’s
