KUALA LUMPUR: The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today launched its Media Safety Passport (MSP) training programme, the first of its kind in Malaysia.
NIOSH chairman ,Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said it was the first "hybrid" e-learning module where participants could study online before they attend a refresher class and then sit for a test to obtain the safety passport.
"NIOSH takes into consideration all the problems faced by media organisations, and it is willing to organise the classes at their premises if they have the minimum number of participants.
"The module is unique as it could be upgraded at any time with new input from media organisations and other stakeholders,” he said after launching the MSP training programme at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre today.
Lee said the safety passport programme is an induction course on occupational safety and health (OSH), which is widely implemented in various industries including oil and gas, telecommunications, energy production and distribution and highway operations.
Unfortunately, the training is not practised among media organisations, he said.
After the incident that killed a Bernama TV cameraman in 2011 in Somalia, Lee said that NIOSH had provided some input to help the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) publish the Guidelines for Media Professionals.
In the tragic incident, Noramfaizul Mohd Nor was killed by stray bullets while covering a humanitarian aid mission in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sept 2, 2011.
"Unfortunately, after the fatal incident we could still see media professionals being sent to risky and dangerous assignments without suitable protective gear or knowledge on the risks that they would face.
"Based on my observation, good occupation safety and health practices among media practitioners is still low. The awareness level must be improved.
"It is even more frustrating when some employers consider these good the practices as trivial. Some people are not keen to implement them in their respective media organisations," he said.
At the same function, Lee presented a special award to Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd chairman, Tun Zaki Azmi to recognise the company as being the first broadcasting organisation to implement the safety passport training programme.
Zaki thanked the people who contributed to the successful implementation of the NIOSH-Astro Safety Passport (NASP).
“Today, Astro has made a huge leap forward in Occupational Safety and Health Management with the introduction of MSP. This is part of our proactive strategies to enhance safety and health standards within Astro and make us the safety and health leader in the broadcast and media industry” he said.
Since its inception on March 18 this year, more than 2,000 people have obtained the NIOSH-Astro Safety Passport, which focuses on Astro installers and other technical staff.
Meanwhile, more than 100 media practitioners and those from relevant organisations joined the MSP pilot programme at KLCC today.