LETTER: MANY are shocked and horrified with the incident where a parapet wall slab fell from the Sungai Besi-Ulu Klang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), which is under construction, and hit a car travelling along the Middle Ring Road 2 in Bandar Tasik Selatan on Sunday.
The woman driver escaped death and sustained injury on the hand. It is even more shocking that this is not the first construction accident at the same construction project site.
It was also reported that a piling steel frame fell and injured three construction workers for the same SUKE construction project on Aug 16.
Construction sites create a risk not only for construction workers, but also for the people who move around the sites or live near them. The public must be protected from construction hazards.
The Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and other government agencies have regulations that lay down the legal requirements to ensure the safety and health of not only the workers, but also the public as well.
For a construction project, it is important that the structure to be built is designed and constructed accordingly so that workers and those at the construction site are protected from hazards.
The risk management process should be undertaken to identify hazards and control measures. The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has published the Construction Activities Risk Assessment — Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control and guidelines on prevention of fall at construction sites to help construction stakeholders adopt and implement risk management and best safety practices.
An investigation committee should be formed to identify and assess hazards and formulate control measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring.
DOSH, CIDB and related government regulating bodies should take necessary measures to ensure all OSH regulations and guidelines are implemented at construction sites.
WONG CHEE FUI
Specialist, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR)
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times