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 BY

NG WEI KHIANG

SELVA PONIAH

 JULY 30, 2003

FOR

OSH DEPARTMENT

 MALAYSIAN TRADES UNION CONGRESS

Contents 

 

Page

 

 

1.0 Introduction

3

 

 

2.0 Background of SMEs in Malaysia

7

 

 

3.0 OSH In SMEs

7

 

 

4.0 OSH Initiative for SMEs

8

4.1 Legislation and Policy

8

4.2 Training & Promotional Activities

8

4.3 OSH Studies in SMEs

9

4.4 The DOSH “Stick & Carrot” Approach

10

4.5 The Partnership Program

10

 

 

5.0 Conclusion  & Recommendations

11

 

 

6.0 References

12

 

 

 1.0 Introduction

Service sector is generally defined as the provision or system of supplying a public need, e.g. transportation, supply of water, gas, electricity, communication etc.  There are 11 industrial types based on the SOCSO classification. Among them, seven can be classified as service sectors: (i) Electricity, gas, water & sanitary service, (ii) Construction, (iii) Trading, (iv) Transportation, (v) Financial Institution and Insurance, (vi) Services, and (vii) Public Services.  

In terms of economy contribution, the service sector has contributed RM 140,224 million which is about 60% of the GDP in 2003. Among the service sector, the significant GDP contributors are (i) Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, (ii) Finance, insurance, real estate and business services, and (iii) Transport, storage and communications. 

Table 1. GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT BY INDUSTRIAL ORIGIN (RM Million) 

 

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003*

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

17,415

17,596

17,943

18,269

18,478

19,114

Mining and quarrying

14,425

15,344

15,641

15,892

16,217

16,629

Manufacturing

50,899

56,841

67,717

63,536

66,805

72,470

Construction

7,333

6,926

6,996

7,159

7,434

7,772

Electricity, gas and water

6,329

7,078

8,226

8,792

9,429

10,140

Transport, storage and communications

14,873

15,354

17,036

18,317

19,301

20,467

Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants

28,565

29,383

30,806

31,742

32,937

34,584

Finance, insurance, real estate and business services

23,346

24,976

26,064

28,548

30,902

33,267

Government services

13,278

14,055

14,395

15,058

15,712

16,426

Other services

15,061

15,447

15,845

16,306

16,835

17,568

Less:  Imputed bank service charges

13,734

14,876

15,873

17,902

20,024

22,138

Add:  Import duties

4,430

5,319

4,742

4,762

5,373

6,176

GDP at market prices

182,221

193,422

209,538

210,480

219,400

232,477

 * Estimated by the Ministry of Finance

Source:  Economic Report 2002/2003 - Ministry of Finance, Malaysia. 

 The service sector that has the highest number of employees is Services (including public service), 24.5%, followed by Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants, 16.7% and Transport, storage and communications, 6.4%.

 Table 2. Registered Employers and Employees by Economic Sectors in 2001. 

 

Registered Employers

Registered Employee

 

Frequency

%

Frequency

%

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

16,459

3.7

261,924

5.0

Mining and quarrying

2,788

0.6

54955

1.0

Manufacturing

63,043

14.2

1,545,773

29.2

Electricity, gas and water

1,671

0.4

33,993

0.6

Construction

42,496

9.6

321,918

6.1

Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants

108,097

24.4

884,165

16.7

Transport, storage and communications

24,481

5.5

335,996

6.4

Finance, insurance, real estate and business services

10,403

2.3

188,801

3.6

Services (including public services)

146,768

33.1

1,297,949

24.5

Other services

404

0.1

7,374

0.1

Activities not adequately defined

27,294

6.1

354,725

6.8

 

 

 

 

 

Total

443,904

100

5,287,573

100

Source: SOCSO, 2001.

Given that service sector covers a wide range of services, the OSH issues and challenges are diverse. The majority of this sector are small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Local researchers have carried out a number of OSH study in this sector and the government initiative has also been targeting on the SMEs. This is due to the findings that SMEs contributed about 80% of the accidents at the workplace and was the main cause of the plateau in the SOCSO accident statistic.

The specific OSH issues in the Service sector are highlighted in Table 3. At one glance, site hazards are related to the Construction and Electricity, Gas and Water Sectors such as heavy machinery handling, falling from height, hot work, confined spaces and many others which required skilled and competency in handling the hazards. Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and business services; Wholesale and Retail Trade, Hotels and Restaurants; and Transport, Storage and Communications are more “indoor” thus the hazards are related to office such as ergonomic, manual handling and fire with commuting hazard as a main concern for the Transport sector.

Table 3. Common OSH Issues in the Service Sector.

Type of Service Sector

OSH Issues

Electricity, gas and water

General site safety, such as falling from height, hot work, material handling.

 

Construction

General site safety such as falling from height, hot work, material handling and lifting, and heavy machinery safety.

Wholesale and retail trade, hotels and restaurants

Generally, commuting safety. For hotel and restaurant, OSH issues are related to kitchen safety.

Transport, storage and communications

Generally commuting safety. Others are material handling and ergonomic.

Finance, insurance, real estate and business services

Generally, commuting and office safety such as sitting posture, work stress and fire hazard.

Services (including public services)

Generally, office safety such as sitting posture, work stress and fire hazard.

 

 

 From Table 4, Wholesale and Retail Trade, Hotels and Restaurants (commerce) reported 13,774 cases of workplace accident which is the highest within the Service Sector in 2001, followed by Civil Services, 7487 cases and Services (real estate, professional services, equipment rental and leasing), 5950 cases.

Although the Wholesale and Retail Trade, Hotels and Restaurants (commerce) has the highest reported accidents in 2001, however, in terms of case fatality, Electricity, gas, water & sanitary service has the highest case fatality (26.1%) followed by Transportation, 20.8% and Construction, 19.8%. Comparing to industrial average of 11.1% and other sectors such as manufacturing and agricultural on case fatality, Service sector is much more higher.

Table 4. Distribution of Accidents and Fatality Frequency by Sectors

 

Industry

 

 

Indicator

 

1977

 

1980

 

1985

 

1990

 

2000

 

2001

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agricultural, forestry & fishing

Accidents

Fatality

Case fatality

 

374

7

18.7

5,550

5

0.9

1961

38

1.9

3897

134

3.4

11893

115

9.6

12424

75

6.0

Mining & quarrying

Accidents

Fatality

Case fatality

 

924

11

11.9

1640

18

10.9

1563

21

13.4

2644

12

4.5

626

11

17.5

573

7

12.2

Manufacturing & processing

Accidents

Fatality

Case fatality

 

28,068

30

1.0

31,801

36

1.1

28,592

54

1.8

54,925

86

1.5

41,331

282

6.8

35,642

243

6.8

Electricity, gas, water & sanitary service

Accidents

Fatality

Case fatality

 

179

1

5.5

177

3

16.9

106

6

56.6

860

2

2.3

537

8

14.8

499

13

26.1

Construction

Accidents