Malaysia is one of Asia's biggest employers of foreign labour. But recently, cases of deaths, abuse and forced labour have come to light. What is going on? Who is protecting these migrant workers?
"According to Socso statistics, the total number of reported industrial accidents had decreased from 121,593 in 1993 to 43,885 in 2005, which is nearly a 60% reduction.
<P>"This
is commendable since the workforce has increased substantially since then. However,
there is no room for complacency and everyone should have a common goal of striving
towards zero-accident target in every workplace," he said in a statement
here on Tuesday. </P><P>Lee said efforts to curb workplace accidents need to be
enhanced and improving occupational safety and health should be an ongoing task
for everyone including employees. </P><P>"Last year, the total compensation
costs paid out by Socso for industrial accidents and occupational diseases accounted
for almost RM890mil and the amount will keep increasing. </P><P>"We hope
the frequency and severity of occupational diseases and fatal accidents can be
reduced by up to 20% in the next five years," he added. </P><P>Lee said it
was essential for workers to be provided with safety induction so that they were
aware and abided by all safety procedures, including the proper use of safety
equipment. </P><P>"Niosh has introduced a safety passport programme to cater
for the safety induction of workers engaged by various industries and to improve
the safety practices and standard among workers, especially the workers of contractors,"
he added. </P><P>Lee said the latest programme was initiated last November with
Telekom Malaysia (TM) for their contract workers hired to carry out maintenance
and non-routine works, including at high place and confined spaces.</P><P><I>Source:
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/2/20/business/20070220144934&sec=business</I>
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