KUCHING: Construction teams should improve their safety risk management at site, state Public Works Department (JKR) director Zuraimi Sabkhi said.
He gave this reminder at the opening of a forum on ‘Safety in Construction Industry, Where Are We?’ here yesterday that was attended by about 150 people from related sectors.
The forum was organised by JKR Sarawak, Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Sarawak branch.
According to Zuraimi, in JKR’s quest for simpler, faster and more efficient project delivery system, they had adopted new procurement and construction methods.
“They have also knowingly or unknowingly varied the long established working acts and rules which can be bewildering and dangerous to the construction teams.
“They had sometimes given rise to unsafe conditions and acts and have to a certain extent contributed towards some serious fatal accidents and near-miss incidents during construction,” he said.
The forum aimed at providing a platform for construction professionals, property developers, contractors/safety officers and JKR Sarawak (as a project implementer) to exchange and share their knowledge and experience, issues and solutions, hence to contribute to a better understanding of the business complexity and safety risk management in the construction industry and to explore better approaches in minimising and eliminating safety risk for the smooth execution of projects.
He said JKR has three offices in the South Zone, Central Zone and North Zone to do site inspection and other works.
Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Sarawak, (CIDB) Sarawak, Shell, Sunway Construction Group Berhad, IEM and Sarawak Energy Berhad presented papers at the forum.