.

FAKULTI PENDIDIKAN DAN BAHASA

PROGRAM SARJANA MUDA PENGAJARAN (SMP)

SEMESTER SEPTEMBER 2012

OUMH22O3
ENGLISH FOR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATIONS

NO. MATRIKULASI

: 690825025538002

NO. KAD PENGENALAN

: 690825025538

NO. TELEFON

: 0195672535

E-MEL

: norasiahnot1969@gmail.com

PUSAT PEMBELAJARAN

: Pusat Pembelajaran Kedah

REPORT ABOUT THE NEGLIGENCE OF OPERATORS BLATANTLY IGNORING

THE SAFETY REGULATIONS IN THE MATERIAL AND HANDLING DEPARTMENT
OF SMART WOOD PROCESSING FACTORY SDN BHD AND RECOMMENDED
MEASURES TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY STANDARDS.

Prepared For
Ahmad B. Sulaiman, Managing Director
Smart Wood Processing Factory Sdn. Bhd
45-46, Jalan Kuala Ketil,
08000 Sungai Petani,
Kedah Darul Aman.

By,
Norasiah Binti Abdullah
Occupational Health Manager
Smart Wood Processing Factory Sdn Bhd.
02 November 2012

TABLE OF CONTENTS

BILLS
1

TABLE OF CONTENS

PAGE

INTRODUCTIONS
3

BODY
2.1. NEGLECT PROBLEM EMPLOYEES

49

2.2 COST ESTIMATE

2.3 RECOMMEND
3

CONCLUSIONS
10

1.

REFERENCES

11

INTRODUCTIONS

Safety is a matter of great importance in the organization, especially the manufacturing sector. A
safe working environment is necessary to protect the health and safety of workers as well as to
3

avoid any adverse events that may occur. In this aspect, I as the Occupational Health Manager of
Smart Wood Processing Factory would like to report to you concerning the attitudes of the
operators who fail to comply with the factorys safety regulations. Based on my visit to the
Material and Handling Department recently, I found that the operators were blatantly ignoring the
safety regulations.
As a factory producing wooden furniture, Smart Wood Processing Factory is very concerned
about the health and safety of its employees. Thus, this plant has implemented a detailed guideline
of health and safety rules in accordance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA
1994). This rule is designated to provide guideline to employers and employees about their
responsibility for creating a safe and healthy workplace. However, based on my tor of the factory
recently,I regret to inform the operators have been doing things that are against the rules of safety
and health requirements.
Negligence of safety and health at work will definitely bring a lot of risks to workers and
employers. Among them are accident, fire and death. If these occur, the employers will have to
bear the consequences. If the occurrence of accidents are frequent, then this will disrupt the
smooth operation of the factory. The employers will be forced to pay attention to the accidents,
injury, loss or even legal actions taken against them. Therefore, the employers must ensure the
safety and health of their workers so that they can work effectively; thus increasing productivity.
Accidents at work involving wood products factory were often heard of. For example, news from
Straits Times (22 June 2011), a Myanmar factory worker in a timber factory in Jalan Kuala Ketil
escaped death when a wood cutting machine which was operating exploded, causing splinters to
hit the victim's face and injuring his eye. I sincerely hope that such incident will not occur in our
factory.
As such, I would like to recommend measures to improve the safety standards at our factory and
reduce risks in the workplace.I hope our company would be able to provide personal safety
equipments (PPE), training schemes and employees awareness programme, organize a course on
safety, maintenance of machinery and equipment as well as create a working environment that is
healthy and safe. I also hope that the cost will be borne by the employer to implement these
security measures. The amount spent on the safety of workers is worth than an untoward accident
that might occur which might incur more financial losses. I hope that you can review the report
and take appropriate actions to overcome this problem in the workplace.

2.0

BODY

Based on my findings upon my tour to the factory,here is my list of offences committed by the
operators.
2.1

NEGLECT PROBLEM EMPLOYEES

1. Employees Not Wearing Complete Safety Equipment (Personal Protective Equipment)

Based on my visit, I found that the workers were not wearing safety equipments provided by the
company. Safety Equipment (PPE) is a tool provided to employees to protect against injury. This
tool will protect the head, feet, hands, and entire respiratory system of the body. Examples of
safety

equipments

are

the

helmet,

goggles,

aprons,

gloves

and

rubber

shoes.

Based on my findings, it was found many employees do not wear (face shield) when handling
wood cutting machine, wood surface, etc. .. This will cause the workers to be exposed to dust,
wood dust and harmful chemicals. Employees also will have eye injuries (eye injury) due to
debris or sawdust with more serious cases which might cause blindness to the victim.
I also found the employees had ignored the safety rules by not wearing the right shoes to work.
Wearing of rubber shoes is important as the work area is greasy and oily. This is to prevent
slippery and injury to the feet. I saw the male operators wearing sandals and leather shoes while
the female operators wearing shoes with heels while working. This is a potential danger as they
are exposed to injury or accident at work.Workers are also found neglecting their personal safety
by not wearing gloves when handling wood cutter, saw or roller blade. Workers are exposed to the
danger of hurting themselves such as cut or severed limbs involving the fingers, hands, arms and
legs when hit by a saw blade or sharp objects.There are also employees who wear loose clothing
and fur as well as tie to work. Such clothing is not suitable to be worn when handling the machine
as this may cause the loose clothes, fur or tie to get stuck to the machine and cause injury to the
employees.
2. Employee Not Wearing Nose and Ear plug
Based on my visit, I also found that workers ignore the safety by not wearing a mask and ear plug.
They are exposed to dust, wood dust when handling wood cutting machine. Employees are also
vulnerable to inhalation of fine particles of dust when handling the wood surface such as during
the

process

of

sanding

that

produces

fine

dust

particles.

Similarly, in the spray painting in an enclosed place,this produce vapors of organic solvents such
as "thinner" and "turpentine" which were being inhaled by workers. As a result, in the long run,
workers will suffer chronic health problems such as pneumonia, asthma, lung cancer as well as the
5

impact of irritation on the respiratory tract. This can be avoided if workers wear mask at all times
when carrying out their duties.
Workers are also found not wearing complete earplugs when handling wood sawing machine and
motor which produces a constant noise. Thus, they are vulnerable to extreme noise conditions that
can lead to hearing problems (hearing Impairment) for a period of several years. This problem can
certainly be avoided if workers adhered to the wearing of personal protective equipments such as
mask and ear plugs at all times. Employees must be aware that their personal safety is very
important to them as prevention is better than cure.
3. Unethical and Unsafe Work Code of Employees
Based on my findings, I also found that workers do not carry out the work properly and safely.
There are new employees who use the machinery incorrectly without being monitored by a
supervisor or senior. Upon checking the engine speed, I have found that its speed has been
changed from what it supposed to be.The waste product has been placed with the machine that is
still operating. This is a matter of great concern because it will cause the engine to catch fire and
explode.
Many cases of injuries and accidents in the workplace are caused by neglicence of workers in
handling the machinery. . Section 25 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 stated that
as an employee, they are not to not interfere with or misuse anything provided or done in the
interest of health, safety and welfare of workers.
The news from The Straits Times May 29, 2012, should be a lesson to all of us .A sawmill worker
had his right leg crushed after it entangled in a wood cutter machine in a rubber wood factory in
Guling.This incident occured when the employee used his right foot to step on the brake located
on the side of the machine, but unfortunately his foot slipped into the spinning machine. At the
time of incident, he was only wearing a pair of slippers.Based on this real life story, it cannot be
denied that safety at work is utmost important and cannot be ignored by the workers. I sincerely
hope that our company can give full training to our employees on ethical and safe work code.I
hope the supervisor will conduct constant check on the employees while they are working.
4. Employee Not Taking Care of the Cleanliness of the Working Environment
Based on my findings, I discovered that the workers do not maintain cleanliness in the working
place. They are found not to be cleaning the dust, wood dust generated from the wood cutting
machine and the engine parts. There are also employees who eat and drink in the work area. This
can cause the risk of exposure to fire.More unfortunately, I find some male workers smoking
6

while operating the machine. This action is totally unacceptable based on the plant safety
regulations, which could result in a fire. Fire will certainly quickly spread because of the fuels
found in the factor, such as wood, thinner and turpertine. I also found the fire extinguishers are
not available. This is especially dangerous because in the event of fire, there isnt any fire
extinguisher to extinguish the fire and this will endanger the lives of workers.
Based on OSHA 1994, this provision stated that it is also the employee's responsibility to
jointly work with employers to address any injury at work.Each and every worker must ensure
their workplace is safe, clean and neat without any threat of physical or health hazard. Employees
must be responsible to ensure their own safety and health at work is guaranteed.
I hope that our factory can put up poster about fire hazard and guidance on security measures
during a fire break out. Fire plans and emergency routes should be displayed clearly to the
workers.In addition, employees should be given training about fire and how to use the correct tool
to put out the fire.If an injury or accident occurs in the workplace, the employer certainly had to
spend a lot of money on legal matters and compensation. Therefore, I sincerely hope you can
review the report and take appropriate action in order to overcome this problem.
2.2

COST ESTIMATE

Below I provide the estimated costs for the following:

Bills
1

equipment / material
Personal
Safety

cost estimate
Equipment

(PPE)

earplug, ear muff, cartridge respirator, safety eye RM2, 000 per set
2
3
4
5
6

2.3

goggle, hand glove and safety boot

Poster on safety rules
Safety guidelines about fire
Fire extinguisher
Fire drills
Pamphlets on Occupational Health and Safety of

RM3,000.00
RM3, 000.00
RM500.00 per set
RM2,000.00 per session
RM3, 000.00

Workers
TOTAL

RM18,000.00

RECOMMEND

Herewith, I listed a few suggestions that are part of the actions which the employer can look into
to increase employee awareness of personal safety, thus helping to reduce the accidents in the
workplace.
1. Provide Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
As stated in the OSHA 1994, part of the section has required the employer to provide a safe and
7

healthy workplace for its workers.Therefore, I propose that the employer must provide suitable
PPE for employees.
Employers must provide protective equipments (PPE) such as earplug, ear muff, cartridge
respirators, eye safety goggle, safety hand glove and boot to protect the safety and health of
workers. It should be noted that PPE must be appropriate to the level of risk and are worn
comfortably by the workers.
This is in consistent with the government's proactive measure to eliminating taxes on imports for
job security tools that were introduced in the 2002 Budget. (Media Report August 27, 2001).
Failure of employers to comply to the safety of workers is also an offence under the FMA 1967
(Section 50) and the OSHA 1994 (Section 51).
2. Have a training scheme and work code on health and safety
To increase awareness of the workers about safety regulations, employers are required to provide
instruction, information, training and appropriate supervision on safety to employees while they
are working. The employer shall provide training and awareness schemes based on the practical
workings of health and safety, such as the correct use of PPE.
Training in health and safety aspects can be done; example fire drill, manual lifting of loads and
so on. In addition, employers are required to send their employees for medical examination or
counselling.As for new staff, they should also be trained so that they understand the health and
safety regulations in the workplace.
3. Organize safety and health campaign
Workplace safety campaigns should be held to exhibit the safety and health policy in black and
white. The employer must provide a booklet on safety and health for all employees. Security
awareness programme or "safety week" should be held with talk on health to bring awareness to
the staff of the importance of being healthy.In addition, employers are required to provide safety
and health programmes in the workplace through the noise monitoring program in the workplace
(noise monitoring), monitoring the health of employees (health surveillance) audit or workplace
safety (safety audit). This can help employees detect workplace hazards and how to avoid them.
4. Maintain equipments and machines
The level of machine safety must be monitored and ensured that they are safe to be used. The
employer must ensure that the operation and use of machinery or equipment that is safe and not a
health risk. If the machine is not safe to be used, then the employer may consider "engineering
8

control", which enhance the security level of existing machines such as adding machine guards on
saw blades or putting guardrails around the machine to prevent other workers entering the work
area.
In addition, employers can increase the security level by installing an exhaust system with a
"scrubber" or "collectors" to discard and suck out vapors of paint, organic solvent or fine sawdust.
This is a good method of prevention for the safety of the workers.
5. Provide a healthy and safe working environment
The employer is responsible for providing a healthy and safe work environment for workers.
Employers must provide adequate space in the workplace. Employers must also provide a special
space

for

the

storage

of

hazardous

materials

and

label

each

container.

Employers also must provide emergency equipments such as fire extinguishers, hose reels, alarms
and first aid box. In addition, the employer should inspect and monitor the working conditions by
using a checklist from time to time. Employers should ensure that the working environment is
always in good,safe and healthy condition.
6.

Conduct an effective job management.

To enhance the health and safety of employees, the employer is also responsible to have an
effective management methods (administrative control) such as creating a work schedule rotation
(rotating work schedule). These alternate work schedule should be especially for workers who are
often exposed to the dangers of such work in the area of spray painting and sawing. This alternate
work schedule is to reduce employees exposure to the hazards faced at work.
It is my sincere hope that you can scrutinize and investigate the behavior of workers who ignore
the safety regulations in the workplace. Hopefully you can look into the work area and make
improvements to the problems mentioned above. I also hope that you may also consider the
proposals that are being put forward and implement them as soon as possible to keep the staff safe
and healthy at their workplace.
3.0

CONCLUSIONS

Nevertheless, the most important thing that should be on every party is the awareness, sense of
responsibility, honesty and positive attitude in matters related to the importance of employee
safety. It should be noted that the worker is an important asset in the success of the industry.
Employers should take care of the safety and health of their employees because if this aspect is
not emphasized, the loss is not only among employers, but the country also will lose this valuable
9

asset. If the safety aspects of worker comes first, then employees will work even more igorously
and thus productivity will rise.

Yours sincerely,
...........................
(NORASIAH BT ABDULLAH)
Occupational Health Manager,
Smart Wood Processing Factory Sdn. Bhd.

REFERENCES
Abdul Aziz Hussin, 2000, Aspek Undang-Undang Tort Dalam Projek Pembinaan. Pulau Pinang:
Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia
Maule, K. Expectation of the Principal Constractor Buletin NIOSH September, 1998.
10

Jaya Pushani Ponnudurai (2011)English For Workpalce Communications. Selangor : Meteor Doc.
Sdn. Bhd.
OSHA 1994 (ACT 514). Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (ACT 514)
Kementerian Sumber Manusia( 1975) Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony
Peraturan Kilang dan Jentera (Keselamatan, Kesihatan & Kebajikan), 1970.
Akta Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerja, 1994.
[PDF] guidelines on occupational safety and health act 1994 www.dosh.gov.my/.../
www.mysafetyandhealth.com/.../law-malays... - 24 Aug 2011
[PDF] OSHA www.utar.edu.my/osh/file/OSHA.pdf
PDF] OSH AT WORKPLACE staff.iium.edu.my/.../Niosh
www.ggi-myanmar.com/safety_health/inde. 12 Julai 2009
New Straits Timeswww.nst.com.my/.../factory workers -injured-in-fact -29 May 2012

11