PAM: Get industry input before gazetting new regulations on construction safety

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia (PAM) calls for lawmakers to consider the views of stakeholders and industry professionals, before gazetting new regulations to expand the responsibility for construction workers’ safety to include developers and designers.

The Minister of Human Resources M. Kulasegaran said earlier this week that developers and designers should also bear responsibility in construction workers’ safety, as the burden is now solely on the contractor according to existing rules. The statement was made after the recent incident of partial collapse at a condominium site in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur.

“We regret that the Ministry of Human Resources has submitted the proposed new regulations to the Attorney General's Chambers through the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) without prior engagement and input from construction industry professionals and stakeholders,” PAM president Ar Lillian Tay said in a press release today.

Tay pointed out that architects specifically are responsible for the architecture design of the building and the engineers for the structural design and building working systems. Whereas contractors are given full possession of the site and take full contractual responsibility for the management and execution and all building works and activities on the site.

“Contractors with poor safety records should be identified before accidents happen, rather than more ‘knee-jerk’ punitive regulations on architects or building owners with limited control over the contractors’ daily operations and priorities,” she stressed.

“The role of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is critical to ensure that contractors are committed and well trained to the highest level of safety practice on a construction site, from the worker level to site supervisors, the mandatory certified Safety Officer and management and allocation of necessary budget to maintain high levels of safety practice on site,” she furthered.

PAM also urges lawmakers to define the term “designer” more specifically in the new guidelines, as in the existing Occupation Safety and Health in Construction (Management) Guidelines 2017, “designers” can refer to Architects and Engineers.

Suggestions

On the other hand, Tay suggests the government set guidelines or regulations on how much cost is to be committed in the preliminaries of a Building Contract to ensure good safety practices will be provided throughout the entire construction period.

“Building owners or developers as the employers in the Building Contract, can promote higher levels of safety by allowing fair and reasonable preliminaries which covers costs for safety procedures, training and supervision, including for temporary works,” she said.

To enhance site safety culture and improve the morale and well-being of construction workers, PAM further suggests that both building industry and relevant authorities consider the following moves, including improve working and housing conditions for workers.

Furthermore, site housekeeping practices should be improved, especially the protection of work in progress, as site accidents often happen when poured concrete is not yet set and work is suspended or abandoned suddenly during sudden heavy rainstorms. “It is to be noted that the recent building collapse at Taman Desa happened during a heavy storm,” Tay pointed out.

PAM also urges for a review to the current immigration policy to retain certified and experienced foreign workers, as experienced workers are often not allowed to extend their work permit beyond 10 years.

Lastly, the association calls for the Contractors' All-risks Insurance compensation for the death of a worker to be increased from the current RM18,500.