GEORGE TOWN: The Department of Occupational Health and Safety (Dosh) expects to complete investigation into the collapse of the Second Penang bridge ramp in Batu Maung in a month.
Penang Dosh director Mohd Anuar Embi said the department would call the contractor involved soon to facilitate investigations which would cover all aspects.
“We have started investigations since Thursday, involving 13 personnel, including five people from the Forensic Department in Penang and Putrajaya, to identify what caused the structure to collapse,” he told reporters here yesterday. He said the department had so far collected 10 per cent of the data on the incident.
The investigation would focus on the building design, the installation method, workers’ supervision, soil factor and the safety system that was used to see if there was any breach of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, he added.
He said if there was any breach of the act, action would be taken against those responsible.
The department, he said, had also instructed for cleaning work at the site to be stopped temporarily until completion of the investigation.
Following the incident, Mohd Anuar advised contractors involved in the construction of such structures to monitor their project site and ensure the area and its surrounding was safe for the public.
Meanwhile, the police and the Fire and Rescue Department had terminated their search and rescue operation at 6pm on Saturday and handed the location of the collapse to Dosh.
Last Thursday, the concrete ramp at the exit of the Second Penang Bridge which was under construction at the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway collapsed at about 6.40pm.
The body of Tajudin Zainal Abidin, 45, who was trapped in a Perodua Kelisa car under the rubble was extricated about 8.45pm the following day.
Three people were injured in the incident, two of them foreign workers, identified as Slamat, 36, from Indonesia, and Tin Maung Iwin, 39, from Myanmar.
The other is a local, Thilasheni Rajendran, 24, who injured her hand in the incident. — Bernama