Johor Sand & Granite Lorry Operators' Association Aims to Enhance Members’ Skills and Professionalism through Various Training

A recent interview with Chia Jee Onn, the President of Johor Sand & Granite Lorry Operators’ Association, revealed that the Association would hold a series of training sessions to enhance the professionalism and skills of its members.

“In August last year, we moved our association’s office to the new premises in Taman Desa Cemerlang that is more spacious, allowing us to hold various training programmes, seminars and conferences. The aim for these activities is to help our members understand and be aware of the new policies of the Malaysian government that are relevant to them and help them comply with these policies.” 

Chia pointed out that the government had begun to tighten Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) enforcement that was applicable in road transport activities, which the majority of its members were still not ready for.

 “Many members who did not comply with OSHA were caught red-handed by the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) recently and their business licence was temporary suspended or licence renewal was kept in abeyance until they became compliant with the requirements. For example, for a company that has a fleet of more than 60 trucks, it needs to employ a full-time competent Safety and Health Officer. For fleets with fewer than 40 trucks, they just need to appoint an employee within the organisation to head the occupational safety and health committee.”

He explained that under Section 30 (1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, if there were 40 or more persons employed at the place of work or directed by the Director-General, the employer should establish a safety and health committee.

A competent Safety and Health Officer is a Malaysian who has successfully completed the necessary courses from DOSH-approved training centres, passed all examination papers (inclusive of a project work paper) conducted by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and accumulated working experience as required by DOSH. Lastly, he must be interviewed by and registered with DOSH to maintain competency.    

According to the Boneo Post Online, DOSH records showed that only 5,984 safety and health officers had registered and received their licences from the department as of 2016.

 “Currently, there is a shortage of qualified safety and health officers, and they are in great demand. To help our members, I have gone through the full training course for safety and health officers and have trained some of the Association’s committee members regarding OSHA compliance. We are able to guide our members through the process of becoming OSHA compliant, helping them to set up their safety and health committee, appointing the right personnel to head the committee, with an aim of ensuring that the persons other than their employees are not exposed to safety and health risk in consequence of transport activities carried out and encouraging education and awareness regarding safety and health at the place of work. That means we are able to perform internal audits to ensure that everything is in place before the official audit by SPAD.”

Chia stressed that safety had no tolerance. “We have started to educate our members and the industry since two years ago through an exhibition that we organised. The exhibition was held at Expo Danga City Mall in Johor Bahru and featured a concurrent Road Safety Awareness campaign, bringing together a host of transportation and logistics industry players who were actively involved in the south Malaysian market.”

A series of various training programmes and seminars were in the pipeline, he said, and the Association would kick off the first training session in April once its committee had agreed on the programme.

To date, the Association had 90 companies as members, consisting of about 5,000 vehicles. According to him, this accounted for only 1 per cent of the industry’s population and the Association hoped to attract more members.  

柔佛沙石罗厘同业公会目标：透过各种培训加强会员技能与专业性

柔佛沙石罗厘同业公会主席谢儒安在近日接受《卡客车新闻》专访时透露，公会将主办一系列的培训，加强会员的专业能力与技能。

“去年8月，我们将公会办事处搬至目前位于Taman Desa Cemerlang的新地点。如今，我们的办事处空间宽敞，方便我们开会，主办各种培训和研讨会。我们希望透过这些活动，让会员了解和协助他们符合马来西亚政府所实施的新政策。”

谢儒安指出，政府开始紧缩与陆路运输活动相关的职业安全与健康管理（OSHA）政策，然而大部分的会员却仍未做好这方面的准备。

“许多未符合职业安全与健康管理规定的会员，近日在陆路交通委员会（SPAD）突击检查中被捉个正着。他们的商业执照被暂时吊销或暂时无法更新，直到他们符合该条规为止。比如说，拥有超过60辆卡车的业者，必须聘请一名全职的合格安全及健康主管。少于40辆卡车的业者，则必须委任公司里的一名员工领导职业安全及健康委员会。”

他解释说，根据1994年的职业安全与健康法第30（1）条， 拥有40名以上雇员的企业，必须在工作场所建立安全与健康委员会，并由总干事负责管理。

一名合格的安全与健康主管必须是马来西亚公民，他必须完成和通过国家职业安全与健康研究所 DOSH认可培训中心的所有试卷（包括项目工作文件），并拥有DOSH所要求的相关累计工作经验。最后，他还必须通过DOSH的面试和向DOSH注册，以保持其能力。

据Borneo Post 线上新闻报道，DOSH截至2016年的记录显示目前合格和注册的职业安全与健康主管只有5，984人。

“目前，我国缺乏合格的安全与健康主管， 而行业对他们的需求巨大。为了协助会员，我本身特别全程参与安全与健康主管的培训，并培训了一些公会理事，以协助会员符合该规定。我们能够协助会员通过职业安全与健康的申请程序，协助他们设立安全与健康委员会，委任适合的人选来带领他们的委员会，确保他们员工以外的其他人不会因运输活动而面对安全与健康风险，以及在工作场所推广安全与健康意识与教育。这意味着我们能够提供内部审计，确保在陆路交通委会员来进行审计前，所有一切都已准备就绪。”

谢儒安强调说，安全不能有丝毫的宽容和妥协。“我们在两年前已通过公会主办的展销会，开始教育我们的会员和业者。当我们在新山的Expo Danga City Mall主办该展会的同时，也同步举办了道路安全意识运动，将活跃于马来西亚南部市场的物流业者聚集在一起。”

据他透露，该公会已经计划了一系列的培训。一旦获得理事们的同意，就会在4月间主办第一个培训。

截至目前为止，该公会拥有90名会员，会员卡车数量达5，000辆。他说，这不过占了该行业人口的1%而已，因此公会希望能够吸引更多的会员。