An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the main engines of growth of our domestic economy. Its cyclical growth is a barometric reflection of the economic climate, experiencing accelerated expansion when the economy is booming and sharp decline when the economy is on the downslide. Our construction industry has been facing many challenges from the issues of low productivity, low quality, fragmentation, poor image, economically volatile, bureaucratic delays, lack of ethics, shortage of skill manpower, and lack of data and information. Generally, the production of construction products is a risky, complex and lengthy process. The total development of a construction project normally consists of several phases requiring a diverse range of specialized services. Cost, time, quality and safety are important characteristic of every project. For the construction industry in Malaysia, there has been greater emphasis on the first three aspects at the expense of safety. Many employers have not established comprehensive accident prevention policies but instead concentrate on maximizing profit. They do not emphasize on safety because they do not know how high the actual cost of an accident is until it occurs. Lack of adherence to safety requirements has led to increased exposure of workmen and the general public to risky situation at construction sites resulting in a high chance of occurrence of accidents. Issues particularly related to the construction safety and health with regard to our construction industry are often associated to high rate of accidents, low wages for high risk jobs, unconducive work environment, competitive tendering, multi-layered subcontracting system, unskilled workers, high labor turnover, variable hazards, low priority for safety, harsh operating conditions, poor project and site management, low technology used, no centralize system to compile the scattered data and lack of relevant accidents data.