KUALA LUMPUR: Employers of the Bangladeshi worker who fell from the five-star hotel ceiling at Jalan Stesen Sentral here yesterday can be jailed two years, and fined RM50,000, or both.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the sentence could be imposed if they failed to provide a safe occupational environment to workers, as envisaged in the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994.
“Employers, including maintenance contractors, whose workers are involved in working at a height, must discharge their statutory duties to as far as practicable as stipulated under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994.
“It would help avoid incidences such as the latest one where a foreign worker was injured after the lobby ceiling of a five-star hotel at Jalan Stesen Sentral in Kuala Lumpur collapsed on Monday morning,” he said in a statement today.
In the 3.30am incident, it was reported that the worker was carrying out repair works involving electrical wiring above the ceiling when it collapsed under his weight.
Lee said while awaiting a detailed report of the incident, he wanted to stress that it was also the responsibility of employers to provide training and personal protective equipment (PPE) and the responsibility of employees to wear it.
“They must also adhere to the Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970 and follow the Guidelines for the Prevention of Falls at Workplaces that was issued by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) in 2007.”
Under Regulation 12 (Working at a height) of the Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970, practicable means that the action taken could ensure the safety of a person working more than 10 feet high, including providing safety harness and rope.
Any person who commits an offence against the regulation could be fined not exceeding RM1,000.
According to DOSH, most “fall from height” incidences could be prevented by taking the most basic and necessary safety measures.
“DOSH has introduced the guidelines on what steps can be taken, the type of PPE to be provided to such workers and how risk assessment can be carried out to ensure it was safe to work at a height.
“Although the guidelines has no force of law, it provides clear written guidance on the recommended safety measures to enable the employers or self-employed persons to discharge their statutory duties to as far as is practicable as stipulated under OSHA 1994,” Lee added.
A spokesperson for the Fire and Rescue Department of Kuala Lumpur reportedly said there was no major collapse on the hotel structure and the incident only involved the lobby’s ceiling.