Boarding schools should focus on safety, health aspects

LABUAN, Sept 20 (Bernama) -- More focus should be given to safety and health aspects in boarding schools as students, teachers and support staff are at the premises all the time.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the situation in boarding schools was different from normal schools where the students would return home after classes or when the co-curricular activities have ended.

"Given the enormous responsibility of the boarding school management, I would like to call for a more efficient occupational safety and health (OSH) management system, to prevent any untoward incident and illness at the premises," he said at a OSH Programme at Sekolah Menengah Sains Labuan here today.

Also present were NIOSH Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan regional manager Wan Sarman Sakan, SM Sains Labuan Alumni Association (SAMUDERA) president Suhaili Dikar and Labuan deputy education director Martin Abd Rahman.

According to him the school management should set up a Safety and Health Committee and adopt the concept of 'Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control' or HIRARC.

He said if the HIRARC concept was in place, teachers and students would definitely understand that risky activities would cause accidents if not managed properly.

Lee said under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994, the school administration as an employer should assume responsibility to ensure the safety, health and welfare of all parties at their premises.

Under OSHA 1994, employers' responsibilities also include implementing safety and health policies and ensuring that employees and others at the workplace are not exposed to safety and health risks.

He said it was timely for hazard analysis to be done for every activity in schools which involve teachers, support staff and students.

For educational institutions with risky activities, he said that there was a need to implement the OSH Management System standards such as the Malaysian Standards MS1722 or ISO 45001, which was the first global OSH management system standard.

Lee also called on more private companies, government agencies and non-governmental organisations to work with NIOSH to implement OSH awareness programmes in schools nationwide.

-- BERNAMA