KUCHING: A total of 28 errant companies throughout the state have been slapped with either court fines or compounds for committing various offences under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994 from January to November this year.
Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Sarawak director Dasuki Mohd Heak in revealing this said RM89,000 had been collected throughout this period where RM70,000 was through compounds while the remaining RM19,000 through court fines.
“From January to November this year the department issued 20 summonses involving a total compound of RM70,000. In the same period, eight companies had been imposed with court fines involving a total of RM19,000,” he said.
Dasuki said most of the cases recorded by the department involved unregistered machinery and construction sites and the rest were fatalities at workplaces due to negligence or irresponsibility on the part of the employers.
Speaking to reporters at a news conference after the opening of Borneo Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Safety and Health (BOSH) 2011 at Pullman Hotel here yesterday, he said that over the years there had been a significant increase in the number of cases recorded by the department as the enforcement agency with regards to issues involving occupational safety and health.
“The complaints we received from employees on the lack of occupational safety and health measures in their workplaces have been increasing and to us this shows that the awareness among the general public is getting better,” he said.
He said this was a good sign, as it would help towards reducing the number of industrial accidents and fatalities.
Meanwhile, State Social Security Organisation (Socso) director John Riba Marin who was also present during the media conference said that the highest number of industrial accidents reported to the agency came from the manufacturing and building construction sectors.