CONSTRUCTION COMPANY FINED RM25,000 FOR FAILING TO ENSURE SAFETY OF WORKER

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 (Bernama) -- A construction company was fined RM25,000 or eight months jail by the Sessions Court here today for failing to ensure the safety of a Bangladeshi male worker who died while working at a construction site last year. 

Judge Norina Zainal Abidin handed down the sentence against WCT Berhad after its representative Beh Chye Meng, 61, (he) pleaded guilty to the charge. 

According to the charges, the company as the employer failed to ensure that the safety and health plan guardrail & barricade was complied with, causing an accident to Md Anisur Rahman at a development construction site in Pusat Bandar Damansara here at 4.45pm on Aug 10, last year.

The charge was under Section 19 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 which provides for a maximum fine of RM50,000 or a maximum jail term of two years or both. 

According to the facts of the case, on Aug 11, 2023 at 10am, four officers from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya Occupational Safety and Health Departments conducted an investigation into a fatal accident at the construction site.

Investigations revealed that the victim was a general worker from a construction company, namely a Sub-Contractor to WCT Berhad, who died at 4.45pm on Aug 10, 2023, while doing housekeeping work on the 58th floor of the same place. 

The victim stepped on a 200cm x 50cm "main rope" hole that was not closed firmly and no barrier was installed, causing the victim to fall on a concrete beam on the 57th floor and was taken to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital for treatment, but the victim died at the hospital.

Earlier, Occupational Safety and Health Department Prosecuting Officer Nor Asnida Abdul Razak asked the court to impose a severe sentence as a lesson. 

"The company has a previous record mentioned in this court on Dec 18 last year. The company pleaded guilty and was sentenced. For the court's information, the incident occurred at the same site.

"I ask for a preventive punishment so that they do not ignore the legal and safety requirements of the workplace in the future and ask for a higher fine than in the previous case because one life was lost for the second time," said Nor Asnida. 

Before sentencing, Beh, who was not represented by a lawyer, said his company regretted and vowed to prevent such incidents from happening at their site in the future, besides educating employees on safety issues. 

--BERNAMA