PAPAR: The National Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) yesterday proposed that schools and higher learning insitutes carried out periodic safety audits to ensure their buildings and surroundings were always safe and suitable for effective learning.
NIOSH chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said at the OSH in School Awareness campaign held at SMK Benoni near here yesterday that the Education Ministry must also include OSH in schools’ safety programmes.
“We do not want to see parents losing their children, students losing their friends and schools losing their pupils who are supposed to become our future leaders just because safety measures were not taken at the educational premises,” he said.
He cited a recent untoward incident that occurred at a religious school in Melaka whereby a female student died after falling into a sewerage hole while playing behind the school with several of her friends during recess.
He said the tragedy could have been avoided if the school had its safety procedure and OSH policy understood by all its citizens.
He said by carrying out the OSH in School programme, the culture of OSH could be inculcated by all within the school.
He cited that among the OSH culture that could be created at schools were to carry out courses or training on OSH for all the school citizens; to create a safety and health committee at the school; and to create an OSH policy at the school.
He also encouraged schools to carry out the Five Minutes OSH programme which required teachers to brief students for five minutes prior to the school period on various safety and health topics, once a week.
He also encouraged schools to create procedures that can become guidelines to students and teachers so they can undertake activities in a safe and healthy manner.
He cited that these could include procedures while at the laboratory, while at the bus station, at the canteen and so on.
“The procedures should be pasted for all to see and understand its contents,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 18 accidents and one death were reported at schools between 2012 and 2015, while a total of 10 accidents and one death occurred at higher learning institutes during the same period.