Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (April 10): The underground works package contractor for the KVMRT Sungai Buloh – Kajang Line, MMC-Gamuda KVMRT (T) Sdn Bhd (MGKT), was recently announced the winner for the 2015 International Safety Award (with Distinction) by the British Safety Council.

The safety award was given in recognition of its commitment to health and safety management, MGKT said in a statement today.

"Now in their 57th year, the International Safety Awards are highly regarded by health and safety management practitioners.

"MGKT as one of the 2015 Distinction Award winners demonstrated their commitment to preventing workplace injuries and work-related ill health to the British Safety Council’s independent adjudicators," it added.

MGKT was set up to undertake the design and construction work for the underground work package comprising 9.5km of tunnels and 7 underground stations of Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)’s Sungai Buloh-Kajang Line. The MRT project is part of the government’s Economic Transformation Programme and owned by the government through MRT Corporation Sdn Bhd.

British Safety Council acting chief executive Neal Stone said all of those working at MGKT’s underground and tunnelling work sites have made the award possible, which recognises their pledge to prevent injury and ill health in the workplace.

It was also apparent that these winning organisations overall recognise the value that proportionate and sensible management of occupational health and safety risks brings to the organisation, its people and society, he added.

“The International Labour Organisation estimates that every year over 2.3 million people globally are senselessly killed due to workplace injury and work-related ill health and an estimated 4% of global GDP is lost due to health and safety failure.

"Awards have an important role to play in shining a light on those employers who are taking sensible and effective steps to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their workers, celebrating their efforts and encouraging other businesses everywhere”, he noted.

MGKT director Datuk Paul Ha said the award also reflects the importance of high standards of safety and health at work.

"A culture of safety is not something that can be adopted or realised overnight, it takes years of hard work, commitment and, more importantly, it is about the senior management making impactful safety and health related decisions," he noted.

The decisions have indeed resonated in the form of definite action plans at site culminating in the award benchmarking us against peers internationally, and efforts have borne fruit, he added.

It is also worth noting that the prestigious annual award is given exclusively to companies that demonstrate exemplary levels of commitment and performance attainment within safety and health management at a specific site or business unit, said MGKT.

“MGKT was one of 29 organisations globally to have achieved the ‘Distinction’ award, being the top 5% of all 535 organisations that were eligible to enter this international competition”, Ha also said.

In addition to the strict pre-entry criteria where an organisation cannot have sustained any fatalities or have any prosecutions past or pending, the award is based upon stringent assessment of safety management systems, practices and strategic philosophy.

Ha said the recent win was a concerted effort from all staff and the construction team of MGKT.

“Without significant effort by all, this international recognition of excellence would not have been possible,” he added.

The award will be presented to MGKT at a special ceremony in London on April 24, this year, said MGKT.

 

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