KUALA LUMPUR: The Social Security Organisation (Socso) today launched 'Ops Cegah', an employer-friendly approach to increase awareness among both employers and employees to adopt the culture of prevention in occupational accidents.
Socso chief executive officer Datuk Seri Dr Mohammed Azman Aziz Mohammed said under the programme, Socso and its strategic partners will be visiting 1,060 companies nationwide to meet with its top management.
"These employers have been identified as the organisations that recorded the highest number of accidents based on the list of Top 100 nationwide and Top 20 in the areas that they operated in last year (2021).
"During the visit, Socso and its strategic partners provide information and guidance to these companies' top management to instill and adopt occupational accident prevention practices and measures for their employees.
"This soft approach to prevent industrial and work commuting accidents is more employer-friendly as it does not involve any enforcement action," he said in his speech during the national level launch of Ops Cegah today.
Azman said Ops Cegah, with the theme 'Kebersamaan Menangani Kemalangan Pekerja' (Addressing Workers' Accidents Together), will be implemented starting today until May 31, involving 54 Socso offices nationwide.
Its strategic partners are the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), police, the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (Miros) and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
"We believe that continuous efforts must be made to change the mindset and instill awareness among employees to always adopt a culture of occupational accident prevention, thus contributing towards reducing the accident rate in the country," said Azman.
He said based on Socso's data, the manufacturing, services and agriculture sectors accounted for the highest rates of occupational accident cases, as well as commuting to and from work.
Azman added that the number of occupational accidents reported to Socso last year stood at 56,990 cases, compared to 68,183 cases in 2020.
"There was a decrease of 16 per cent. However, we believe that it was likely due to the implementation of various movement control orders, where many individuals still work at home rather than in the office, thus reducing the need for commuting to and from work.
"Socso's statistics also found that two out of three deaths involving employees that occur every day were due to accidents while commuting to and from work.
"(And) right now, as we transition into the endemic phase, where the economic sector is booming and more and more Malaysians are choosing to be self-employed as e-hailing drivers and delivery partners, Socso's efforts need to be intensified namely on accident prevention activities, especially on the road."
Azman hoped that Ops Cegah can further increase the awareness of employers on occupational safety and health issues at work and during commuting to work, thus creating a culture of accident prevention in every company and subsequently reducing accident rates among employees.
"As I have stressed many times, accident prevention effort is not a cost, but an investment that will benefit employers in the long run."