KOTA KINABALU: The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will help the tourism industry in Sabah to ensure that employers are equipped with Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) training.
Its chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, said this was in conjunction with Visit Malaysia 2014.
“It is important for tourism industry players, especially hotel and transportation companies, to bear in mind that safety is the priority of their business.
“A one day or half day of OSH training is needed to ensure the safety of tourists who come to our country; for example if they are taking a bus to visit tourism spots around Sabah, the bus driver must know the condition of the vehicle and also the location of hilly areas, so that they will be careful while driving,” Lee told reporters at the NIOSH Media and Client Appreciation Lunch 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Kinabalu yesterday.
He added that based on statistics prepared by the Sabah Tourism Board, there was a drastic increase in the number of total nett arrivals of tourists in Sabah.
Looking at the statistics, he stressed that industry players in Sabah needed to play their part to ensure that tourists felt safe travelling in the state.
“As of October 2013, a total of 2,718,542 tourists were recorded compared to 2,332,476 tourists in 2012,” he said, adding that the number would increase depending on how the industry handled its tourists’ safety and health.
According to Lee, in 2013, NIOSH Sabah received strong support from the government and its agencies in Sabah, namely from the Public Works Department (PWD) where their engineers attended the Safety and Health Officer course, whereas employees of Sabah Tourism Board and Sabah Forestry Department attended the Occupational First Aid course.
Throughout last year, more than 450 activities including training courses, seminars and lectures were organized by NIOSH Sabah in striving to meet the demand of an industry that is developing rapidly, which includes the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT), Sabah Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP), Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) and other various projects by Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA) and Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).
NIOSH through its subsidiary company, Niosh Certification Sdn Bhd (NCSB), is prepared to offer ISO certification services and management system training such as awareness programmes, Lead Auditor and Internal Audit course for OSH, quality and environment.
NIOSH will hold a strategic collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) to enhance safety and health practice among its employees, contractors and students.
From this collaboration, it is hoped that it can be of great value to students by including NIOSH training modules in diploma and degree programmes offered by UMS.
Aside from that, NIOSH will invite top players in the industry to participate in organizing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes at several schools in Sabah to cultivate awareness on safety and health as a culture among students.
In an effort to support the Prime Minister’s suggestion on government conservation measure, one of the elements is to apply the 1Malaysia Training Centre (1MTC) concept. This is part of the National Blue Ocean Strategy where intelligent use of government-owned facilities and training institutions are fully utilized.
To achieve this, NIOSH Sabah will initiate a smart partnership with Mara Polytechnic College, National Youth Skill Training Institute (IKBN), Industrial Training Institute (ILP), Community College and Vocational College.
This collaboration is with the sole objective of empowering skilled workers who are knowledgeable and have competency credential.
Also present at the event yesterday were Kota Kinabalu Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir and Niosh manager for Sabah and Labuan Regional Office, Mohd Hussin Abd Salam.