By Brad Rantayy
MIRI, Jan 10: The Ministry of Human Resources is looking at the feasibility of privatising certain enforcement sections of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) in a bid to address its enforcement officers shortage.
This was disclosed by Human Resources Minister M Kula Segaran on Friday after a visit to the DOSH office at Yu Plaza.
“Privatizing is not something new, in 1998, the ministry of this department had started with the plan, but the proposal was not taken very well,” he added.
Citing Singapore which has privatised its sectors, Kula Segaran added, has saved a lot of time and money.
“We will accelerate this privatising proposal, so that the enforcement officers can concentrate on other areas,” he explained.
On another note, Kula Segaran said that Sarawak’s backlog of inspection on workplaces was much better compared to Peninsular Malaysia.
“The state has recorded 10 per cent compared to 30 per cent backlog of inspections not done in West Malaysia,” he said.
For revenue collections, DOSH Sarawak has recorded RM2million from inspection of machineries in 2019.
On the latest updates on the forensic investigations carried out on the five beams of the Pujut Bypass flyover which have collapsed in December last year, Kula Segaran said that the ministry was awaiting a complete report.
“The forensic studies have been done but not yet completed,” he disclosed.
In 2019, Sarawak recorded 32 fatalities compared to 47 the previous year.
“The number has decreased because of the increase of inspections done by DOSH in workplaces,” he said.
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P1-Kula (seated second from left) with Sarawak DOSH director Ir Dr Nor Halim Hasan (on Kula’s right).
