An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia

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 i...

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Main Authors: Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim, Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi, Singh, Bachan
Format: Book Section
Published: Penerbit UTM 2008
Subjects:
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author Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim
Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi
Singh, Bachan
author_facet Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim
Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi
Singh, Bachan
author_sort Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim
collection ePrints
description 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.
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spelling utm.eprints-167892017-02-05T04:09:42Z http://eprints.utm.my/16789/ An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi Singh, Bachan TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) 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. Penerbit UTM 2008 Book Section PeerReviewed Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim and Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi and Singh, Bachan (2008) An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia. In: Issues In Construction Industry. Penerbit UTM , Johor, pp. 110-123. ISBN 978-983-52-0568-2
spellingShingle TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Abdul Hamid, Abdul Rahim
Abd Majid, Muhd. Zaimi
Singh, Bachan
An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title_full An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title_fullStr An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title_full_unstemmed An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title_short An overview of construction accidents in Malaysia
title_sort overview of construction accidents in malaysia
topic TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
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