KUALA LUMPUR: AS an agency set up to provide social security protection to workers, the Social Security Organisation (Socso) Malaysia is widely regarded as a “safety net” for the workforce.
Apart from providing social security schemes, such as the Employment Injury Scheme and the Invalidity Pension Scheme, Socso has taken the lead in educating workers on occupational safety and health, and industrial and commuting accidents prevention.
Its chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed, said Socso’s main goal was to eliminate workplace-related accidents and diseases.
“We collect the premium but we cannot just be providing benefits or processing claims, giving them dues based on what’s stipulated in the Employees’ Social Security Act 1969.
“Anybody can do that, so we want to do more,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
He said he believed achieving zero workplace accident was possible through constant awareness and education, but admitted that changing the public’s mindset was a challenge.
“The problem is the behaviour and attitude of our people, and we are aware of this. This is something that needs to change.”
ACCIDENTS ON THE RISE
Statistics have revealed that commuting accidents were on the rise, almost doubling in the last 10 years.
Dr Azman said the number of commuting accidents reported to Socso last year was 35,195.
This was an increase of 85 per cent from 2008, where 19,041 commuting accidents were reported.
He said a majority of the accidents involved motorcyclists who were on their way to work.
“There are so many factors (that led to the increase). During the morning rush, these motorcyclists weave in and out of traffic, running red lights and speeding.”
Dr Azman attributed the accidents to the people’s disregard for the law and poor time management.
“For example, we stay up late to watch football matches until 3am or 4am. The next day, we wake up late and rush to work. We don’t give ourselves a buffer time to reach the office.”
Socso figures showed that 90 per cent of accidents occurred when victims were on their way to or from work. A total of 52 per cent of these accidents occurred when victims were travelling to work.
Accidents tend to occur within a 10km radius from the workplace (72 per cent), and 32 per cent of the accidents occurred between 1km and 5km away from the office.
Nearly 77 per cent of accidents involve motorcyclists.
Dr Azman said occupational deaths had decreased from 924 in 2017, to 891 last year. Two-thirds of the deaths were caused by commuting accidents.
“In previous studies, motorcyclists have said they didn’t mind going above the speed limit, using their phones while riding and zig-zagging in traffic.
“If we can reduce motorcycle accidents by 50 per cent, we will reduce commuting accidents by 50 per cent or even more.”
VISION ZERO
Socso receives more than 100,000 claims every year for industrial and commuting accidents.
Last year, there were 72,361 accidents involving workers reported to Sosco.
To tackle this, the organisation has embarked on Vision Zero, a strategic approach for preventing workplace accidents, and promoting health and wellbeing of employees.
It was launched earlier this month by Human Resources Minister M. Kulasegaran in Putrajaya. Vision Zero was first launched at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Singapore in 2017.
Socso is a signatory to this movement.
Dr Azman said the philosophy behind Vision Zero was that all occupational accidents, injuries and diseases were preventable.
“It promotes a culture of prevention where everyone, not only employees and employers, do not accept accidents. Accidents must be avoided and they are preventable.
“If accidents can be prevented, it will have a positive impact on workers in terms of stable earnings. It will ensure that families have breadwinners they can depend on, guarantee employers’ human capital, as well as ensure the nation’s productivity and economic stability.”
He said it was timely that stakeholders in public and private sectors adopt Vision Zero principles for the safety, health and wellbeing of Malaysians, and to reduce disabilities and fatalities due to accidents
and diseases.
“It involves everyone, from the top management right down to workers. We cannot say we want to reduce accidents or deaths by half. That means there will still be accidents and deaths, and that’s not what we want.
“The goal is to achieve zero accidents and fatalities.”
He said it was important that workplace safety and health went beyond preventing industrial and commuting accidents.
Dr Azman, a medical doctor by profession, said workplace safety and health included occupational diseases and workers’ lifestyles, which could contribute to non-communicable diseases.
“We hold on to three things when it comes to safety net protection. They are prevention, rehabilitation and claims or
compensation.
“The third principle is our strength and we are doing a lot of rehabilitation too. However, prevention is the most important, hence the Vision Zero initiative.”
Socso regularly conducts awareness programmes and training on occupational safety and health. Among them is the Commuting Safety Support Programme (CSSP), where trainers train employees on safe motorcycling.
The organisation conducts CSSP training for 100 companies annually. In total, Socso has 1,000 trainers and had trained 10,000 employees who are motorcyclists.
Dr Azman said: “We started this on a small scale and engaged the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health to get certified.
“Now, it is being taken up by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research.”
He said Socso held advocacy programmes with almost 400 companies a year.
“There’s no excuse for us not to emphasise on safety and health at the workplace.”
SELF-EMPLOYMENT SCHEME
The Self-Employment Scheme was introduced to encourage self-employed individuals, such as e-hailing, taxi and bus drivers, to register and contribute to the scheme.
However, only a small number have signed up since it was announced two years ago.
Section 11 of the Self-Employment Social Security Act 2017 states that it is compulsory for eligible self-employed individuals to register and contribute.
“Socso works together with other relevant government agencies, such as the Land Public Transport Authority, the Transport Ministry, state governments and other agencies, to reach out to self-employed drivers.
“Starting Aug 1, Socso will initiate enforcement under this act. Offenders who fail to register and contribute to the scheme may be subjected to a compound of between RM500 and RM4,000.”
He said the penalty for failure to pay the compound was a jail term of two years or a fine of RM10,000, or both.
“This enforcement is not to collect contributions. Our aim is to ensure that self-employed drivers are protected against accidents or mishaps.”