COMMENT | Why are bosses spared when workplace safety non-existent?
COMMENT | Malaysia - On May 28, 2009, one floor of the iconic Jaya Supermarket building collapsed while demolition work was being carried out for redevelopment, killing seven Indonesian workers. Some directors and the companies involved were charged for failing to ensure that the workers and civilians were not exposed to health and safety risks. They pleaded guilty and fines were imposed.
Australia - Brisbane Auto Recycling which operated an auto wrecking business in Rocklea, Queensland. On May 17, 2019, an employee was crushed by a reversing forklift. The court imposed a penalty of A$3 million on the company while its directors were each sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and wholly suspended for 20 months.
The United Kingdom - On Feb 4 this year, a company director whose warehouse worker was crushed to death at work was jailed for four years. Chinese national Han Rao, who’s firm TLW (UK) Ltd is based in Renwick Road, Barking, London, was warned of safety failings on the day skyscraper window panes toppled over onto victim Marian Iancu in November 2015.
Singapore - A safety officer and a project manager were sentenced to jail on Sept 23 after a Bangladeshi worker died following a construction accident at the Changi Airport more than three years ago. Workplace Safety and Health officer Tan Wee Meng was sentenced to two months’ jail, while project manager Lee Chung Ling was sentenced to three months’ jail. The employer company, Chan & Chan was earlier fined S$150,000 for failing to take practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees
The above four cases ...
COMMENT | Malaysia - On May 28, 2009, one floor of the iconic Jaya Supermarket building collapsed while demolition work was being carried out for redevelopment, killing seven Indonesian workers. Some directors and the companies involved were charged for failing to ensure that the workers and civilians were not exposed to health and safety risks. They pleaded guilty and fines were imposed.
Australia - Brisbane Auto Recycling which operated an auto wrecking business in Rocklea, Queensland. On May 17, 2019, an employee was crushed by a reversing forklift. The court imposed a penalty of A$3 million on the company while its directors were each sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and wholly suspended for 20 months.
The United Kingdom - On Feb 4 this year, a company director whose warehouse worker was crushed to death at work was jailed for four years. Chinese national Han Rao, who’s firm TLW (UK) Ltd is based in Renwick Road, Barking, London, was warned of safety failings on the day skyscraper window panes toppled over onto victim Marian Iancu in November 2015.
Singapore - A safety officer and a project manager were sentenced to jail on Sept 23 after a Bangladeshi worker died following a construction accident at the Changi Airport more than three years ago. Workplace Safety and Health officer Tan Wee Meng was sentenced to two months’ jail, while project manager Lee Chung Ling was sentenced to three months’ jail. The employer company, Chan & Chan was earlier fined S$150,000 for failing to take practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees
The above four cases illustrate the seriousness the authorities in other jurisdictions adopt when it comes to workplace and workers’ safety. It reflects the severity of the penalties when lives are lost. Our rates of fatalities in workplaces are nothing to boast about.
According to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh), the rate of accidents in the workplace increased by 13 percent (2.71 per 1,000 employees) last year, compared with 2.40 per 1,000 employees in 2018. The rate of fatal accidents at workplaces, however, recorded a decrease of eight percent last year. One death is one too many and are the penalties deterrent enough to compel employers to put in safety measures and that they are strictly adhered to?
In his paper “Corporate liability under Malaysian occupational safety and health legislation” researcher Kamal Halili Hassan of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia notes: “Scores of corporate entities have been prosecuted since the promulgation of the Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1994; the overwhelming majority of these entities charged under the act pleaded guilty and paid the fines.
“The study found that corporate entities have generally been willing to pay fines rather than undergo criminal trials under the act. Cases from the 2006-2013 period prove the consistency of such a pattern. The reasons for paying fines rather than undergoing criminal trial include the following, among others: the fines are comparatively low, the burden of proof is on the accused (in practice), the intensity and time factor of a full trial is onerous and the company's reputation is at risk.”
The above exemplifies the attitude taken when it comes to the prosecution of employers or individuals who do not take safety measures or do not provide an environment which ensures that workers are not at risk of either injury or death.
In the case of the Jaya Supermarket incident, seven lives were lost and yet the paltry RM20,000 fine was not even a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment the law provides for.
61 deaths
Two recent incidents involving motorists escaping death on our roads have once again raised the question of the safety of the public. How can we be assured that it is safe to be on our roads when some construction work is taking place? Are there enough guard rails? Are they safety nets to prevent debris from falling on us?
There are guidelines, standards and procedures even before the first hole is dug but who ensures that laws are complied with? We have instances when roads are arbitrarily closed without any notice. We have cases of earth piling up on roadsides only to washed into the drains and highways during a heavy downpour.
Concerned with the ongoings in the workplace and lack of deterrent penalties, in June, 56 organisations, groups and trade unions expressed concern about the lack of obvious enforcement and prosecution of employers, contractors and developers including directors and CEOs when they violate laws meant to ensure worker safety and health. This even during this movement control order (MCO) when workers ought to be kept safe from Covid-19.
“No directors, CEOs, managers and officers have to date been seen to be tried, convicted and even sent to prison despite there being so many fatal accidents, injuries and even Covid-19 infection of workers.”
They noted that from January to March 2020, Dosh reported that occupational accidents resulted in 1,770 in non-permanent disabilities, 65 permanent disabilities and 61 deaths of workers.
The legal obligation of the employer is to always provide a safe and healthy environment for workers, they said.
This obligation, they noted, is not simply about meeting regulations that workers are disease-free as a condition for the business to begin operation, or for the temporary shutdown of worksites when a Covid-19 infection is detected or an industrial accident happens.
“The persons responsible for the non-compliance must be held personally responsible and there must be prosecution and conviction under the laws that impose legal obligations on employers. The lack of prosecution, trials and convictions gives the impression that the government is less concerned about the safety and health of workers.”
Need more be said? Sixty-five permanent disabilities and 61 deaths are something that cannot be dismissed without those responsible being taken to task. Instead of giving figures just on casualties, can Dosh give figures on prosecution, penalties and the lot?
Surely these do not qualify to be classified under the Official Secrets Act and hence, why the secrecy. Just as they report the figures, they should tell the public the action taken against the people involved and the directors of errant companies. Is that asking too much?
R NADESWARAN notes that errant employers are getting away lightly even when lives are lost. Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
