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Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Negligence + Ignorance = Unnecessary Deaths

It is not surprising that many Malaysians shun factory jobs as many places are fraught with dangers like hazardous work situations.

This story shows how poorly trained and ill-equipped are the rescue services and how negligent some factory owners can be.

The story mentioned the dead workers wearing masks but in an enclosed space with limited oxygen, a mask will not protect you. You need a respirator so that you can breathe good air. That mask may be only good to filter out toxic fumes but will not provide you oxygen if the concentration is too low.

The first worker should have a safety line attached for others to rescue and he should not have been working alone.

The second worker should also have got more help before attempting a rescue.

The 51-year old safety officer also made a mistake by trying to help the 2 men instead of calling for help.

Rushing the victims to the hospital in Johor Bahru from Pasir Gudang in an ambulance would have taken at least 35 minutes and one cannot expect anyone down with asphyxia to survive such a long delay.

One wonders why the factory managers did not ask the ambulance to send the victims for treatment in Pasir Gudang?

It seems that the company has neglected basic safety practices to protect its workers.





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