Report: Occupational Accidents and Hazard Management in Malaysia

This report provides a comprehensive overview of occupational accidents in Malaysia, examining a specific case study involving fatalities at a construction site. It delves into the various causes of occupational injuries, including falls from heights, being crushed by objects or vehicles, and accidents involving machinery and tools. The report further analyzes the impacts of these accidents, highlighting the personal, social, and economic consequences, such as personal hardship, reduced productivity, and psychological effects on workers. Furthermore, it offers practical suggestions for preventing such accidents, emphasizing safety management, employee training, and the use of protective equipment. Statistical data on accident trends is also presented, underscoring the importance of proactive safety measures in the construction industry and other workplaces. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for improving occupational safety in Malaysia.

Hazard Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 1
Elaboration of Newspaper Article 1
Causes of occupational injuries 1
Impacts of occupational accidents 3
Suggestion to avoid the occupational accidents in Malaysia 5
SUMMARY 6
REFERENCES 8

INTRODUCTION
Occupational accident is considered as unexpected as well as unplanned occurrence that
can includes acts of violence, or in the connection that can be results injury into a personal injury
as well as disease and death (Scanlon. And et.al., 2019). Present Report focuses on the
occupational accidents of the Malaysia. It highlights on a case study of two workers crushed into
death due to the closed on the slaps of the 16 floor of a building. It also focuses on the causes
that creates occupational injuries. Furthermore, it highlights on the Measures that avoid the
Occupational accidents and at last it lay emphasis on the summary.
Elaboration of Newspaper Article
Newspaper- New Straits Times
Article-Two people crushed to death within accident of construction site
In Kuala Lumpur two workers at the construction site crushed to death (Garbarino, and
et.al., 2016).The accident occurs at 2 am when the couple of concrete slabs on the 16 floor of a
building were collapsed on Thursday(14 july ,2018) (Fernández-Muñiz. and et.al., 2018)..When
the accident occurred there are already six workers working there on the formwork structure of
the 15 floor building. The Employees working on at Jalan Dewan Sultan Sulaiman . Out of two
one man died on the spot while other man was dead at the nearby hospital called Kuala Lumpur
Hospital. A team of Department of occupational safety and Health (Dosh) conducted research on
the accident site and give an immediate notice of stop work .It means that there is urgent legal
action is taken if any violation occurs regarding the Occupational safety and Health within the
workplace(1994) as well as Factories and machinery Act of (1967) had occurred. It is said by the
Human Ministry that it is responsibility of the workers and employee's to assures safety and
health of the people within workplace (Salminen, 2017).
Causes of occupational injuries
Falling from Heights- It is considered as the most common occupation Hazard as 27 and 14
cases were reported in 2014 and 2015 (Hämäläinen, Takala,. and Kiat, 2017). Factor
responsible such as failure to wear suitable personal protective equipment by the
employees ,avoid the safety as well as health Standards and also lack of occupational procedures
through the onsite employees can contribute to the falling from the height related casulaites.
These fatalies occur due to height usually recorded at Sarawak,WP Kuala Lumpur,Kedah ,Johar
and Pulau Pinang (Garbarino, and et.al., 2016).
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Crushed through objects as well as materials-This is considered as the second rank for the
causes of death within constructional sites. Here there are 17.36 % fatalities recorded from past
three years I.e from 2013 to 2016 (Leitão,and Greiner, 2016). In WP Kuala Lumpur there was an
accident occurred when a hollow pipe falls suddenly on the victim's head from a high floor when
victim was walking onsite on April 2015. According to the reports' victim's safety Helmet broke
due to great influence of the pipe and victim got the serious head injuries . Here in Kl
constructions workers are also crushed due to couple of concrete slabs . Thus workers must be
provided with the suitable type of equipment as well as protective clothing (Jabbari. and
Ghorbani,2016).
Crushed through vehicles-It is considered as the third most cause of work related accidents.
Here 10 % of accidents occurred due to the vehicles. Thus there is inspection called routine
inspection of vehicles. Here eight cases of the vehicles were recorded in 2014 and 2015 at Pulau
Pinang (Leitão,and Greiner, 2016). Thus there is a strong recommendation that whenever
beginning a project there is a routine inspection of materials or vehicles while are most important
regarding the project. In 2014 an accident occurred in Pahang when a mobile crane lifted a
bundle of scaffolding and the victim was working in the radius. The crane can overturned as well
as toppled because of the excessive load . According to the investigation it showed that accident
occurred as due to no procedure of safety was followed at the construction site. It is also
evaluated that no safety attitude of the employees was not maintained regularly (Pietilä, and
et.al., 2018).
Causes of Accidents within construction sector
The number of accident that can be ranged from 15,517 to 21,350. Agents that work within
indoor work causes the more the highest number (44,045)of occupational accidents. As these
accidents are occurred due to the indoor working agent here more number of male workers are
involved. Some accidental equipments such as ladders,excavation (Uğurlu, Kum. and Aydoğdu,
2017).
Struck through objects- 70 to 80% of the employees from construction site are dead due to stuck
through objects as if the employees provide the proper training as well as used equipments and
also machinery properly. Workers must know the use of the reverse vehicles alarms,brakes of
non removing vehicles as well as personal protection vehicles ,tool guards and catch platforms
(Uğurlu, Kum. and Aydoğdu, 2017).
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Ladder accidents-Most of the ladder accidents occurred due the wrong use of the ladder as
workers used the wrong type of ladder, or they can set up the ladder improperly and it perhaps
slippery as well as unsafe surface(Pietilä, and et.al., 2018) . This considers as one of the
leading causes of injury and it also causes the long-term disability of the workers.
Scaffolding accidents-In most of the accidental sites accident occurred due to the Scaffolding
accidents that can either be done through support or planking or the employees that are struck by
falling objects. In most of the cases these occurred due to the negligence in construction or
improper construction (Sarkar, and et.al., 2016).
Power tools as well as machinery accidents-These occurs due to the reasons such as electrical
failure ,mechanical defects as well as lack of proper safety equipment. It is estimated that various
number of accident occurred due to power tools as well as large equipment.
Falls-As most of the accidents occurred or death due to the falls of the workers from the high
elevator that can occurs on stairwells that have no guardrails. The outcome can be catastrophic
to the employees who suffered from serious injuries (Scanlon. and et.al., 2019).
Due to the improper body movements such as twisting as well as bending also causes accidents.
Impacts of occupational accidents
Occupational accidents occurred are unplanned events that can causes the damage .Ti
affects the social as well as economic impacts and also the human cost of accidents. Many
accidents occurs every year around all over the world. For example electric injuries ,burns as
well as electric shocks (Hämäläinen, Takala,. and Kiat, 2017).
Some consequence that can be faced by the employees are mention below
Personal hardship such as pain and suffering- Pain as well as suffering can suffered only by the
workers himself and his family. In chemical accidents when workers faced the burns or in
constructional sites accident when the workers suffering from bone injury that pain and
suffering can be only handle by victim (Garbarino, and et.al., 2016). Above some examples
mention on workers head there is a huge load is falling that sometimes case patient becomes
Occupational accidents occurred are unplanned events that can causes the damage .Ti affects the
social as well as economic impacts and also the human cost of accidents. Many accidents occurs
every year around all over the world. For example electric injuries ,burns as well as electric
shocks (Leitão,and Greiner, 2016).
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Occupational accidents can occur in organization at any day and at any time. Not staying
hydrated can also bring about disastrous consequences. On exceptionally hot summer days,
failing to drink adequate amounts of water can cause heat stroke or cardiac conditions. This can
be avoided by simply drinking at least eight glasses of water per day (Hämäläinen, Takala,. and
Kiat, 2017). Management should stress the importance of proper hydration and rest, as it
maximizes the efforts of personnel. Occupational accidents can demotivate employees and it can
also create threat in the mind of employees. This can increase the absenteeism among
employees. It can also hamper the culture and environment of organization. It can happen that
because of the occupational accidents, there exist a threat in mind of workers and they do not
join the organization because of the threat (Garbarino, and et.al., 2016). It can also hamper the
working environment of organization. The growth aspect of firm can be reduced because of it. It
can also put negative impression on the growth of organization. It can hamper the goodwill of
firm. Also if the goodwill reduces, then the profitability aspect of firm can also be reduced. It can
also reduce the operational efficiency of organization. Inadequate lighting is responsible for a
number of accidents each year (Sarkar, and et.al., 2016). This is often overlooked when
attempting to prevent accidents in the warehouse or workplace. It can also make the work
environment worse. Itca also enhances the unnecessary cost of the firm such as medical
expenses,compensation of workers as well as increased insurance premiums. Due to the
accidents organization faced reduced productivity .90% of the accidents at workplace occurred
due to the unsafe acts as well as conditions and that leads to a negative impacts on the
organization. According to the reports there are various psychological effects at the workplace
accidents on the workers such as anxiety,depression,upset to friends and family as well as posses
difficulty in doing non work activities(Pietilä, and et.al., 2018) . Depression is recorded as the
quarter of case studies and more than half of the employees faces negative consequences of their
close friends as well as families. Most of the employees suffered the multiple negative
psychological effects and reports also shows that majority of the workers were injured who
faces such kinds of psychological disorder (Leitão,and Greiner, 2016). .
Suggestion to avoid the occupational accidents in Malaysia
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Accidents are unexpected and unplanned events which increase risk of injury, ill health,
loss of property, death and damage to environment or personally. Workers need to stay alert and
aware at all the times to avoid accidents at construction. The Malaysian government had made a
many efforts on applying safety and health policies through the enforcement of guidelines as
well as conducting construction sites safety seminars and certification sources. In year 2013 as
per “National Council for occupational safety and Health” the estimated death ratio is 50,000
from workplace.
Construction is a very risky job. This job include building roads, houses, repair, maintain
and renovate infrastructures. These dangers have cause injuries and death on construction sites
throughout the world.
Some ways to avoid injuries and improve safety includes:-
1. Safety management.
2. Create responsibilities at all levels.
3. Install a fall protection system.
4. Provide training with new methods.
Numbers of accidents prevents in such years.
Year Fatal Falls Other Fatal Injuries Total
2017 380 580 970
2016 348 600 990
2015 360 570 900
2014 300 500 889
2013 301 525 824
2012 290 514 800
Here is some tips for prevent accidents at construction sites
11 The workplaces or spaces need to clean11 Need to provide proper training, that teaching includes “how to use equipments”,
and follows safety procedure during their course of work.
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11 Employers need to provide employees provide proper equipment like gloves,
goggles etc.11 Vehicle need to maintain stay up to date.11 Employees need to avoid shortcuts
These are some examples of accident are more than other
1. Falling – This happens when a person unintentionally stepped one stair.
2. Strike by an object - Many of the deaths only happens because that employee has
undergone the proper training and do not know how to use equipment and
machinery properly. The workers need to know how use parking brakes on non-
moving vehicles, tool guards and many more.
3. Scaffolding Accidents – Most of the time scaffolding accidents are caused by
improper construction.
4. Machinery and power tool accidents – These accidents are mostly occurs because
of lack of equipment and inadequate training.
Six excellent suggestion to prevent accidents
1. Plan safety in advance before staring any work make sure that tools are in good
condition.
2. If any worker see something that is dangerous or someone working in an unsafe
way.
3. Horseplay need to avoid. We can easily injure if we are not doing strictly business
all the time. A person can killed or hurt when a “harmless” prank
4. Practice good housekeeping, Nobody likes a slob, its upsetting to see someone
with a messy work area. A sloppy work area is not only hard on the eyes. Rubbish
and material strewn around can result in trips, falls and fires.
5. Report unsafe acts or condition to supervisor, If we see something dangerous or
someone is working in an unsafe way, do something about it as soon as possible.
Otherwise, report it to someone who has an authority or ability to do so. If,
someone is doing an unsafe act warned them in a friendly way to prevent
accidents.
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6. If anyone has a quicker or a better way to do something, tell to supervisor. They
will check and if its practical, they will use that method, But before telling anyone
about your idea make sure its safe.
SUMMARY
From the above assignment it has been summarized that occupational accidents are one
of the most common unplanned fatal accidents that can occur in any organization. The
newspaper article also focuses on an occupational accident that occurred in Malaysia where -
Two workers crushed to death in KL construction site accident. The accident occurred at 2 am
due to concrete slaps collapsed. It has been analysed that there are various causes due to which
these occupational accidents occur within an organization. Each industry faces different kinds of
occupations that affects them in various manners, some of them are drastic and some of them are
quite minute. It has also been analysed that there each occupational accident can occur because
of variety of reasons. Above assignment has also helped in understanding effects of occupational
accidents on organizations and their employees like it was observed that many times due to these
occupational accidents brand image of the company is affected, customer satisfaction gets
affected etc. it has also been analysed that there are various ways in which such occupational
accidents can be avoided and benefits for both the organization and employees can be improved.
It has been observed that avoidance of these accidents and ways in which it can be done is
required to be focused on by every organization because many time due to lack of carefulness
these accidents can result in worker’s injury or deaths, so it becomes vital for companies to
improve their workplace polices so that these types of accidents can be avoided.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Fernández-Muñiz., and et.al., 2018. Occupational accidents and the economic cycle in Spain
1994–2014. Safety science.106.pp.273-284.
Garbarino, S., and et.al., 2016. Risk of occupational accidents in workers with obstructive sleep
apnea: systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep. 39(6).pp.1211-1218.
Hämäläinen, P., Takala, J. and Kiat, T.B., 2017. Global estimates of occupational accidents and
work-related illnesses 2017. World.2017.pp.3-4.Jabbari, M. and Ghorbani, R., 2016. Developing
techniques for cause-responsibility analysis of occupationalaccidents. Accident Analysis &
Prevention.96. pp.101-107.
Leitão, S. and Greiner, B.A., 2016. Organisational safety climate and occupational accidents and
injuries: an epidemiology-based systematic review. Work & Stress.30(1).pp.71-90.
Pietilä, J., and et.al., 2018. Characteristics and determinants of recurrent occupational accidents.
Safety science.108.pp.269-277.
Salminen, S.T., 2017. Job Satisfaction and Occupational Accidents: An International Review of
the Literature. In Advances in Psychology Research (pp. 1-13). Nova science publishers.
Sarkar, S., and et.al., 2016, December. Prediction of occupational accidents using decision tree
approach. In 2016 IEEE Annual India Conference (INDICON) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Scanlon, A., and et.al., 2019. Low‐and lower middle‐income countries advanced practice nurses:
an integrative review. International nursing review.
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