KEMAMAN - A total of 1,601 punitive actions have been taken against employers in Terengganu between January and August, this year over violation of the regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Terengganu Department of Occupational Safety and Health (JKKP) director Mohd Zahari Hitam said among the punitive actions involved the issuance of 1,159 directive letters, 404 notices, 29 compound investigation papers and nine charge sheets.
He said nine deaths due to accidents at workplaces were recorded in the state during the period.
"Besides that, Terengganu JKKP received (reports) three cases of permanent disability, 106 cases without permanent disability, 11 cases of dangerous incidents and 18 complaints throughout the first eight months of the year.
"We take this matter seriously and will take action based on the laws against employers to prevent accidents at the workplace.
"We hope all parties including the government, employers and workers could mobilise energy to ensure that the number of such accidents could be reduced and eliminated (zero accidents) in the future," he said.
He said this in his speech during the launch of the occupational safety and health ceremony and signing of the Note of Understanding (NoU) between Kemaman Vocational College (VC) - Terengganu JKKP - Venator Asia Sdn. Bhd, here, on Thursday.
In the NoU, Kemaman VC was represented by its director Wan Zakaria Wan Ismail while Venerator Asia Sdn Bhd was represented by its site director Datuk Rozano Saad.
Commenting on the programme, Zahari said it represented the continuation of the mentor-mentee programme between Dungun VC and INEOS PCG Acetyle (IPASB) that was held in 2020.
He said the programme could provide many benefits and among them were applying occupational safety and health practices to raise the level of awareness among students as well as VC employees through planned programmes and training.
"Hopefully, this will raise awareness and early knowledge for students before they enter the workforce where abiding to such practices was important to ensure safety in the workplace," he said.