Miros, DOSH launch work-related road safety programme

 

The Work-Related Road Safety Occupational Safety and Health Coordinator (WRRS OSH-C) programme was launched today specifically to address all occupational safety and health (OSH) issues for sectors related to road safety.

The programme is a collaborative effort undertaken by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (Miros), Social Security Organisation (Socso) and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH).

According to their joint statement, the WRRS OSH-C programme was introduced to produce trained individuals recognised by the DOSH to help employers practice OSH aspects, promote OSH culture at the workplace and reduce the risk of road accidents involving their workers.

Miros director-general Khairil Anwar Abu Kassim said it was an initiative of the WRRSM (Work-Related Road Safety Management) Research Cluster developed by Miros.

“It is specifically for sectors that involve work-related road safety such as operators of commercial vehicles, public transport, emergency service, as well as road monitoring and maintenance.

“Based on Socso’s statistics, the number of road accidents involving workers going to and returning from work as well as the use of vehicles while working had seen an increase of almost 80 per cent over the past 10 years,” Khairil Anwar said in the statement issued in conjunction with the Work-Related Road Safety Symposium 2021 held in Putrajaya today.

Meanwhile, Socso chief executive officer Mohammed Azman Aziz said a total of 587 workers died due to road accidents while going to and returning from work last year.

The DOSH, on the other hand, is hoping that Miros, as the training centre for the WRRS OSH-C programme, would be able to train OSH coordinators in helping and advising employers to improve the OSH aspects at the workplace by making some improvements that are easy to implement and involve low cost but bring bout high impact.

Miros, Socso and DOSH also hoped that the WRRS OSH-C programme outlined in the Seven Strategies of the Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan 2021-2025 will be an important element and initiative undertaken by every company to reduce road accidents involving their workers.

- Bernama