Tragic death of a construction worker in Malaysia.

The collapse of a wall has claimed the life of a 52-year-old local contractor (frontline worker). My deepest sympathies go out to his loved ones and coworkers. The tragic death could have been prevented if the deceased’s employer had done a thorough hazard risk and control exercise. The company should be held accountable under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and compensate the worker’s family fairly. A negative connotation is attached to the “contracting” and “construction” industries as a whole when incidents like this one occur due to carelessness with worker safety. The penalties established by current OSHA legislation are inadequate deterrents against complacency and “short cuts” to site work practises. An example would be this sad accident and death. In the aftermath of a death, those left behind are forever changed. Please spare a thought for the emergency personnel that respond to these calls, recover the body on behalf of the victim’s loved ones, and then deal with the psychological fallout. In order to extend responsibility for safety performance to include Project Owners, designers, and contractors, the contracting and construction industries must follow CDM (Construction Design Management) principles. When the existing OSHCIM 2017 Guidelines are made into legislation, this will only happen on purpose. If the updated OSH 2022 (Amendment) legislation is approved from the OSH 2021 (amendment) Bill accepted in Parliament last year, a fully adopted OSHCIM law would be a welcome addition. As “contractors” are currently solely responsible for site safety performance, if this doesn’t change, safety provisions in projects are likely to be insufficient during the tender stage as companies pressure them to submit the lowest bids possible. Contractor associations in Malaysia could do more to help their members enhance site safety and, by extension, the industry’s public profile. The involvement of Business Leaders, knowledge of relevant laws, and HIRARC-led training and education on the topic of site safety are all essential components of any successful initiative. Incidents like the one recorded here, in which a worker was killed while performing what sounds like a simple activity, only serve to add gasoline to the 3-D (dirty, difficult, and dangerous) and menial task reputation, making it difficult to recruit more local workers in contracting and building.