BATU KAWAN: Two foreign workers died yesterday while receiving treatment following workplace accidents at two factories in the Batu Kawan and Perai industrial parks.
Penang Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) director Hairozie Asri said that following the two incidents, his department immediately issued a Prohibition Notice to stop work for investigations at the scene.
"In the accident at a Batu Kawan Industrial Park factory, a 41-year-old Pakistani man fell from a 2.44-metre (eight-foot) high ladder while carrying out work to change a lamp in the office at 2.40pm on Feb 17.
"The man then complained to his supervisor that he experienced pain in his head and felt dizzy before his employer took him to hospital. After almost a week of treatment, the man succumbed to his injuries yesterday," Hairozie said in a statement today.
In the other incident at 10.50am on Feb 10, Hairozie said a Bangladeshi worker was burnt in a fire while clearing scrap waste in a pit at a factory in the Perai Industrial area near here.
"While the worker was trying to put out a spark, a fire broke out in the pit causing both (the Bangladeshi man and a welder) to be engulfed in flames; the victim was sent to a nearby hospital and placed in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) before his death was confirmed yesterday," he said.
According to Hairozie, the Penang DOSH viewed workplace accidents seriously and will take legal action if the parties involved are found to have violated the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. – Bernama