Site owners and architects to be held responsible for accidents when Occupational Health and Safety Act is amended soon

TAIPING (March 1): Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act 1994 are expected to be tabled in Parliament this month to make construction site owners and architects responsible for incidents at their sites, said the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH).

Its director-general, Ir Omar Mat Piah said currently only contractors were held responsible for the construction site even though they had to complete the work within the stipulated time.

“When it is tabled and passed this month, severe fines will be imposed on the three responsible parties, namely the employer, the architect and the contractor in the event of an accident at the workplace,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a fall and collapse prevention operation of Kajima (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd at the Toyo Tire factory construction project phase 2 at Kamunting Raya Industrial Estate in Kamunting near here today.

Omar said based on Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) Guidelines, it is the responsibility of the three parties to cooperate in the early stages before the project was implemented and until it was completed.

Elaborating, Omar said 228 cases were brought to court involving accidents that caused fatalities and injuries last year.

Meanwhile, he said, the JKKP was in the process of conducting a fall and collapse prevention operation at 450 construction sites nationwide since Feb 25 until March 24.

He said the operation was conducted to ensure compliance with the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 as well as to review the effectiveness level of preventive measures by the contractors in ensuring occupational safety and health at the construction sites.

As at Feb last year, JKKP conducted 962 checks at construction sites nationwide, of which 1,239 notices have been issued and 46 offences were compounded while three cases have been bought to the court for various offences and legal breaches, he said.