Ensuring safety at construction sites in Johor

Saiful (left) presenting the lost-time injury free certificate to Giant Leap Construction Sdn Bhd deputy general manager Zhu Hong Jun at the Forest City construction site in Gelang Patah.

GELANG PATAH: Johor Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) aims to reduce the number of fatalities at construction sites by ensuring safety measures were in place.

Its director, Saiful Azhar Mohd Said, said there were 45 workplace-related fatalities reported in Johor last year, of which 27 cases were at construction sites.

In 2016, he said, there were 40 fatalities at workplaces, half at construction sites.

“It is rather worrying as 50% of workplace-related fatalities in Johor were at construction sites,” Saiful said after presenting a lost-time injury free certificate to Giant Leap Sdn Bhd here.

The company is the main contractor for multi-billion ringgit Forest City project by Country Garden Pacific View Sdn Bhd on four reclaimed islands with the themes of “integrating businesses and the city” as well as “urban innovation”.

Saiful said last year, the department had charged 17 building contractors for various offences committed at construction sites and the penalties totalled RM172,000.

During the same period, 80 compounds were issued to 25 contractors at high-rise development projects in the Johor Baru district for failing to observe safety guidelines and procedures.

“To date, there are 1,100 sites in the state with thousands of workers and we will continuously monitor construction sites in Johor,’’ he said.

Saiful said the fatal accidents at the construction sites included falls from high places, lifting of heavy materials, malfunctioning machinery and non-competent workforce.

He said the high number of construction sites in Johor was due to vast development in Iskandar Malaysia and the integrated petrochemical complex in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi.

“There are some 70,000 workers in Pengerang petrochemical complex alone and 8,000 in Forest City project,’’ said Saiful.

He said more workforce would be needed in Johor for the construction of four major infrastructure projects scheduled to take place within the next five to 10 years.

The multi-billion ringgit projects include the High Speed Rail, Johor Baru-Singapore Rail Transit Link, Gemas-Johor Baru double-tracking electrified train project and Iskandar Malaysia Bus Rapid Transit.