KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on Occupational Safety and Health on June 8, joining the ranks of developed nations to place importance on occupational safety and health measures at the work place.

With the ratification, Malaysia also agreed to be under ILO's scrutiny on matters related to safety and health measures at work places and adhere to its high standards, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam.

He said Malaysia already had a well-established safety policy to ensure safety measures were implemented and adhere to it at all work places and it was only consistent that it ratified the convention.

"We are confident that we will be able to meet the standards on safety set up by the international body," he told reporters after opening the Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) Annual Safety Convention here. Meanwhile, Dr Subramaniam said construction sector has the highest number of accidents recorded at work place.

In 2010, 57,639 accidents at work places were reported to the Social Security Organisation (Socso), and out of the total, 4,665 cases or 8.1 per cent occurred in the construction sector.

In 2011, Socso has recorded 33,551 cases of accidents in work places, out of which 4,937 accidents were in the construction industry.

He said that 80 deaths were reported last year in the construction sector due to accidents at work places.

"I hope we can reduce the number over the years by increasing awareness and promoting the culture of occupational safety and health measures among workers and employers at work sites," he said.

He said to enhance safety at construction sites and ensure the measures were adhered, workers were required to undergo one-day induction courses on occupational safety and health. - Bernama

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