The logging industry has the highest concentration of industrial accidents out of the total number at 5,351 reported in Sarawak last year, state Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) director Dasuki Mohd Heak said today.

He said the industry had the highest percentage in terms of per 1,000 workers although the highest number of cases reported to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) was from the manufacturing industry.

"A few cases are still under investigation by Dosh because of the difficulty to access the working areas in the logging industry," he told reporters after the opening of the second Borneo Conference and Exhibition on Occupational Safety and Health by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) chairperson Lee Lam Thye in Kuching.

Sibu recorded the highest number of accidents with 1,424 cases, followed by Kuching with 1,368 out of the total reported last year.

So far, 20 cases had been brought to court and compounded with fines amounting to RM89,000 in Sarawak under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, said Dasuki.

Nationwide, the manufacturing industry recorded the highest number of industrial accidents with 17,573 cases, followed by services (11,270), trading (9,437) and construction (4,667) last year.

Lee, meanwhile, said that statistics compiled by the Human Resources Ministry showed a substantial reduction of 52.7 percent over a 10-year period, from 75,386 cases in 2000 to 35,616 last year, especially since the introduction of the act in 1994.

"Although there is a decline in the average number of industrial accidents from eight per 1,000 workers in 2000 to 4.8 in 2010, we should strive against the benchmark of developed countries which only have one or two accidents per 1,000 workers," he said, adding that Malaysia must continue to strategise new approaches to meet the challenges of occupational safety and health.

Last year alone, the total number of commuting accidents reported was 22,040 while there were 35,603 industrial accidents reported to Sosco, which paid a total of RM1,678,160,051 to 351,433 recipients throughout the country, he said.

- Bernama