According to annual reports from the Social Security Organization (SOCSO), between years 2009 and 2011,
metal industry has the highest reported number of accidents compared to the other manufacturing industry in small
and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the actual causes of problems that
lead to the accidents involving metal industries within SMEs. In this study, a checklist through site visits was used to
collect the data. The overall results revealed that the main causes of accidents are; organization failure, human factor,
machine failure and surrounding environments.
The accident rate in metalworking industries does show a slight reduction over the years. However, it is still so
much higher compared to those of the other industries. Despite the various incentives provided by the government of
Malaysia to improve this situation, the problems still remain. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the commitment
and implementation of occupational safety and health (OSH) aspect in the metal working industries. A survey was
carried out by posting a total of 550 questionnaires to metal manufacturing companies throughout Malaysia. As
many as 131 questionnaires were returned and a statistical analysis was done. Results of the analysis show that the
employers’ commitment for safety operations is high but the implementation of OSH programmes is poor due to lack
of resources and OSH knowledge.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are known to be one of the major contributors to the national economy.
However, in terms of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) implementation and performance, these SMEs,
especially in the metalworking sector have yet to meet the necessary standard. This paper discusses the statistical
analysis of accidents in metalworking industry by using accident reports submitted to the Department of Safety and
Health (DOSH) which involved 740 accident cases. The main objective is to identify the real causes of accidents and
recommend an appropriate action plan for accidents prevention at the workplace.
In general, the industrial accident rate in Malaysia is decreasing. However, statistically it is still relatively high
if compared with that of other developing nations. One of the reasons why accidents keep on happening is poor
learning from accidents. This paper discusses the level of accident learning, based on accident reports submitted to the
Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Malaysia and the Society Security Organization (SOCSO)
Malaysia involving a total of 1,291 accident cases. Based on the quality and completeness of accident reports, the
levels of learning were classified into five accident causation levels which are no, limited, fair, good and excellent
learning.