Metro

Saturday May 17, 2008

Ensure annual check-ups for staff, companies urged

By WANI MUTHIAH


LOCAL companies have been urged to emulate their multinational counterparts in ensuring all their employees undergo a compulsory thorough medical check-up annually.

Department of Occupational Health and Safety (DOSH) deputy director general Rosli Hussin said the move was necessary to detect any health problems in the early stage.

He said employees would also appreciate their employer’s move and this would in turn increase productivity.

“Workers would feel secure and motivated and this would ensure higher efficiency at the work place,” Rosli told reporters after opening an occupational health and safety seminar in Shah Alam on Monday.

Rosli said multinational companies realised the importance of caring for their workers’ health and that was why they emphasised on yearly medical check-ups.

“And, it is because of this approach that the productivity in multinational companies is very high, with their employees performing their best,” he added.

He added that pre-employment medical screening should also be thorough and not merely a formality.

“A thorough pre-employment medical screening not only determines one’s health status but also indicates the source of illness when it occurs,” said Rosli.

He said good employers would also have healthy lifestyle programmes for their employees to curb problems such as obesity.

Earlier in his speech, Rosli said the number of work-related accidents reported to DOSH was still very low in comparison with the number of cases which went to the Social Security Organisation (Socso) for compensation.

Citing the statistics for 2006 as an example, Rosli said only 4,731 work-related cases were reported to DOSH as opposed to the 50,229 reports received by Socso.

“This shows that many accidents have not been reported to DOSH,” Rosli said, adding that DOSH and Socso had initiated a working relationship last year to overcome this problem.

He said both Socso and DOSH would be sharing a database on the number of work-related accidents that occurred in the country.

Rosli also urged those knowing of any work-related accidents to inform DOSH immediately.

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