The number of workplace accidents in Malaysia has come down drastically over the last few years. The announcement regarding these statistics was made by the Chairman, of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh), Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

Mr. Lee informed that the number of workplace accidents had come down to 55,208 for the year 2009 from a high of 133,293 for 19993. He apprised the media of this data after the launch of a seminar titled, ‘Putting Philosophy into Practices’, which was and initiative of the OSH.

Though, the news regarding the number of accidents at workplace was good. But, the number of commuting accidents has witnessed an upswing. Apparently, commute accidents have reached 20,814 for 2009 from a low of 11,700 cases registered in 1993. It needs to be kept in mind that such accidents account for 40% of industrial accidents.

Talking about the high prevalence of commuting accidents in industrial accidents, Mr. Lee, said that Niosh was very worried about the trend and said that the government will launch more programmes to address this problem. He added that Niosh and Socso will be working in collaboration to reduce these numbers.

It needs to be kept in mind that 6,000 to 7,000 Malaysians lose their lives in road accidents. The numbers continue to remain high despite the fact that the government has launched various initiatives like ‘Ops Sikap’.