Published: Wednesday February 25, 2009 MYT 1:47:00 PM
Doctors must report cases of job-related illnesses to DOSH
BY A. LETCHUMANAN
PETALING JAYA: Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam has called on medical professionals to report cases of work-related diseases to the Department of Occupational Safety (DOSH).
He said this was necessary so that the workers who had the diseases could be eligible to claim benefits from the relevant agencies.
“If a worker suffers asthma because of the conditions at work, he could be eligible to claim for Socso if his case was reported by the medical practitioner,” he told reporters after giving a keynote address at the Second TNB safety seminar for top management here on Wednesday.
Dr. Subramaniam said the DOSH and the National Institute of Occupational Safety (Niosh) had also conducted several programmes and briefings for the medical professionals on the need to report the work-related diseases.
“We hope to be able to get a real picture of the situation in the country in future,” he said.
He said that some of the medical professionals were also in the dark that they had to report the work-related diseases to DOSH.
“There are many, including myself who thought that all cases had to be reported to the health Ministry. Only when I became the Minister, I realised it,” quipped Dr Subramaniam who is a medical doctor.
Subramaniam also said that the wages in the country had to go up as the country could not be dependent on a labour-intensive industries any more.
“We have to transform ourselves into a capital driven technology sector, with emphasis on skilled workforce,” he said.
Dr. Subramaniam said that he had raised the low wage issue in discussions with the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.
“I had asked the MEF to come out with guidelines on the wages for the various sectors and we could use it to raise the salaries,” he said.
Dr. Subramaniam said more than 350,00 to 400,000 skilled Malaysian workers had left the country to work in Singapore because of the low wages.
“There are also a lot of talented safety officers who have gone to Middle East while many Malaysians are working in the hospitality industry in China,” he said, adding that these people would return if the wages were higher.
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