Commit to safety, please

NST: PUTRAJAYA: Over 730 people were killed in work-related incidents last year, Deputy Human Resources Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar said yesterday.
Statistics from the Social Security Organisation show that to date, 43,000 people have died at work. Another 22,000 people either died on their way to work or leaving their work places.
Rahman said there was a need to instil the "preventive culture" at workplaces to minimise risks.
He called on employers and employees to implement and abide by the Hazard Identification Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) guidelines.
"Risks at work premises must be identified and assessed.
"This must be followed by the implementation of a hazard control system where hazard prevention measures are put in place," he said at the World Safety and Health at Work Day celebrations here.
Under the law, employers who fail in their responsibility to ensure a safe and healthy workplace can be fined up to RM50,000 or be jailed up to two years, or both.
Employees are liable for a fine of RM1,000 or a three-month jail term or both, should they contravene the Occupational Safety And Health Act 1994.
The ministry has targeted to reduce the death rate to 3.5 per 100,000 workers by 2010.
The ratio now is more than 5.5 deaths per 100,000 workers, more than double the International Labour Organisation’s ratio of three per 100,000 workers.