From left are Mohammed Azman, Marcelo Abi-Ramia Caetano, ISSA Sec-Gen, Kula Segaran, Prof Breuer and Dr Azlan Darus, chairman of the Socso organising committee for the ISSA Technical Seminar on Digitalization, at the launch of the seminar. -Pic by NORAFIFI EHSAN / The Star
TECHNOLOGY has transformed the work environment to be more flexible and customisable, and with these developments come fresh concerns over new forms of risk for workers.
The International Social Security Association (ISSA), in a joint effort with the social security fraternity, launched a two-day seminar yesterday (Feb 18) at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, entitled the ISSA Technical Seminar on Digitalisation – New Forms of Work: Focussing on Occupational Risks, inviting specialists from around the globe to discuss these concerns and share best practices, with Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran officiating at the launch.
Speaking to a large audience comprising international renowned speakers, specialists plus hundreds of delegates from over 25 countries, Social Security Organisation (Socso) Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed reiterated the great significance of the seminar in addressing the changes with the advent of digitalisation after extending his appreciation to the minister for his attendance as well as to ISSA president Prof Dr Joachim Breuer for the association’s support of the seminar.
“As digitalisation changes or disrupts the way we work, ” said Azman, “new occupational risks emerge and need to be explored, identified and examined. The changing nature of work also poses new challenges in social security coverage, either in policy or in the implementation of social security measures.”
The genesis of the seminar began as an idea mooted and discussed by three technical ISSA commissions more than a year before the seminar, designed with the intention to address the changes in the nature of work that comes with digitalisation.
Kula Segaran echoed similar concerns in his keynote address by adding, “Against the backdrop of the current digital transformation, areas of social security, including safety and health, rehabilitation, contribution and collection, are both opportunities and challenges.
“We also need to teach graduates about IoT, big data, IR4.0 to help them be employable – we have to shift to digitalisation and technical studies. Online is becoming mega-business and Malaysia is no exception.”
The minister also emphasised the need for re-skilling, cross-skilling and upskilling, while adding that academia has to move forward with market-driven labour force needs. He reiterated the current administration’s emphasis on technical and vocational education and training (TVET), adding, “You have to adapt, adopt and learn these new technologies. The Government continues to support initiatives such as these seminars and efforts by Socso in becoming a hub for social security issues.”
A rehabilitation centre is slated for construction in Ipoh, complete with advanced technologies and services, catering for people in the northern region, he said, with technologies such as neuro-robotics rehabilitation incorporated as a key feature.
Lauding the seminar’s diverse collection of speakers speaking on topics such as functional compensation post-injury, assessing the digital work capacity and using big data to predict occupational accidents before they happen, Kula Segaran mentioned a new initiative where the self-employed will be covered by social security, and that talks are underway to prepare legislation to ensure “every individual has a safety net in social security, ” including homemakers.
Breuer said that while ISSA represents some three billion people on the globe who are eligible for and are covered by social security, he commended Malaysia’s efforts in “actively promoting social security” in the face of digitalisation in the workplace.
“There is no economic growth without social security,” said Breuer. Against the statistics that more than half of the workforce will comprise freelancers in the next decade, Breuer said, “We’ll see the world of work in 2025 will be a totally different one.”
