While welcoming the State Commission of Inquiry into the Tanjung Bungah landslide, Penang Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) urged that "non-partisan, competent and aptly qualified" people be appointed as members of the commission.

MTUC Penang division secretary K Veeriah said the state government ought to also consider a "tripartite task force" to monitor safety standards not only at construction sites but also in manufacturing and other employment-related places of operation.

"Though it may be argued that such jurisdiction would be with the Department of Occupational Health and Safety, it is our view that employers have both a moral and corporate responsibility to ensure the safety, welfare and well-being of their workers," Veeriah told Malaysiakini.

"It is also our view that the state, by extension, has the same moral obligation to work towards ensuring a safe place of work," he added.

Veeriah (photo) also expressed shock that two tragedies involving multiple workers have occurred within a short span of time in the state.

He said both incidents - the Tanjung Bungah construction site loss of lives and the road accident deaths along the North-South highway yesterday must be investigated in a "holistic and comprehensive manner".

"No corners should be left unturned (and) no issues swept under the carpet," Veeriah said in a statement.

"The lives lost cannot be brought back but those responsible for their untimely and tragic deaths must be held accountable," he added.

He was responding to the deadly landslide in Tanjung Bungah on Oct 21 which killed 11 workers, while the factory bus accident at Juru yesterday saw eight killed and 33 injured.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has called for full investigations into both incidents, and a State Commission of Inquiry will be formed to probe the landslide disaster which involved 980 units of affordable housing by developer Taman Sri Bunga Sdn Bhd.

Meanwhile, Veeriah said that like the landslide tragedy, the road accident would most likely be attributed to negligence or to other mechanical factors.

"And as usual the employers of the dead and injured would be absolved of any blame," he said.

"We in MTUC Penang, however, hold to the position that these employers must be vicariously held responsible," Veeriah insisted.

"Since they engage the transport providers, it would be their primary duty to ensure the mode of transport is road-worthy at all times," he added.

In yesterday's road accident, one of the buses had broken down and was parked on the left lane of the highway near the Juru toll plaza when the other slammed into it, resulting in the tragedy.

"It is our view that if the employer's had ensured that their transport providers had maintained their vehicles in a safe and roadworthy condition, the said bus would not have broken down and the said tragedy would not have occurred," Veeriah said.

Employers should demand the highest standard of vehicle maintenance by transport providers who ferry workers to and from work, and require proof of their vehicles mandated inspection, Veeriah said. 

"Employers should (also) make it a point to carry-out periodic safety audits of the vehicles that are used to provide transport to their workers," he added.

"It is our demand that there be no compromise on the safety of such vehicles.

"To the families of those who have, unjustly, lost their loved ones, MTUC Penang Division extends our deepest condolences," he said.