Malaysia Airports Promotes Safety at Workplace

Malaysia Airports Promotes Safety at Workplace

Malaysia Airports Promotes Safety at Workplace

BAYAN LEPAS, November 18 - To promote safe working area and further stimulate safety-conscious workers, Malaysia Airports today organised a joint safety campaign at Penang International Airport. Malaysia Airports in collaboration with the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia (DCA), Airlines Operators Committee representing airlines operating at Penang International Airport, KL Airport Services (KLAS), LSG Skychef and government agencies, organised this joint apron safety campaign to educate all the apron users on the importance of safety while carrying out their duties and responsibilities at the aircraft parking apron area. During this campaign, the apron users are exposed to a proper handling and  management of all the equipment used at the parking apron area so as to safeguard the safety of the aircraft, crew and other workers, hence minimising the occurrences of accidents. Abdul Wahab Mohd Yusof, Senior Manager Penang International Airport said: "An airport's achievement is not only measured from the number of passengers, aircraft and cargo handled every year but safety aspect in the operation of the airports are also very important and must be in compliance to the regulations set by regulatory-bodies such as International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and DCA." He added: "We would like to stress on not only on physically safe-conscious way of doing works and performing tasks, but also to encourage staff to always think and put safety as the priority at all times". Malaysia Airports is confident that this campaign will further stimulate the airport communities to reduce number of incidents at workplace and increase awareness on the importance of working safely, especially at high risk areas such as the parking apron and on the airside. Penang International Airport recently received the Safety Management System (SMS) certificate from DCA, indicating its conformance to all safety requirements and achieving continuous improvement in safety performance. These include the essential features of safety such as policy, strategy and planning and implementation as well as promotion, records, staff training and competency. The airport became one of Malaysia's five international airports to receive this certification in this region. Abdul Wahab said: "The SMS certification is a testimony of our commitment to ensure the highest level of safety at our airports and to fully comply with the ICAO Safety Management Program." Abdul Wahab also said: "Penang International Airport was nominated as The Best Airport of The Year 2009 for the category of 15 million passengers annually in the Frost & Sullivan-Asia Pacific Aerospace & Defence Award and also the Best Emerging Airport-Asia 2009 (For Cargo Less Than 500,000 Tonnes Per Year) in the Asian Freight & Supply Chain Award (AFSCA) 2009. Therefore, customers do have high expectations on the airport, and the airport has to continuously improve its service, facilities and on safety aspects."  Occupational Safety & Health (OSHA) Act 1994, provides the legislative frame work to promote, stimulate and encourage high standards of safety and health at work.  The long term goal of the act is to create a healthy and safe working culture among all the employees and employers and Malaysia Airports advocates this act strictly as a working culture.  OSHA 94 is under Department of OSHA, Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia.