KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) hopes that further investigations will be carried out to identify the cause of the explosion at an oil palm product processing plant in Tanjung Langsat, Pasir Gudang in Johor, last Saturday.
Niosh, in a statement today, said it views seriously the incident that resulted in the death of a welder and two other workers being injured.
“Niosh calls on employers, especially high-risk industries, to always prioritise the safety, health and welfare of workers. Workplaces involving the use of machinery, heavy machinery and flammable materials require careful management and control,” the statement read.
It said occupations involving hot work such as welding, grinding or blasting close to flammable and explosive materials can result in potentially fatal disasters.
Work safety procedures, supervision and employee conduct are among matters that need to be emphasised during work, Niosh added.
In the incident on Saturday evening, welder Wilson Bangau, 45, was killed while two other workers, Bonsi Buli, 42, and Muhamad Syafiq Abdul Rahman, 23 were injured.
The Johor Fire and Rescue Department had earlier said that the explosion happened when Wilson was doing welding works on a tank which stored about 800 metric tonnes of crude glycerine.
Niosh said welding work near crude glycerine is very dangerous as it is easily flammable.
Referring to the Safety Data Sheet (SDS), it said handling and storage of crude glycerine should be done in a well-ventilated place, and extreme hot and cold temperatures should be avoided, besides also kept away from any source of fire and oxidising substances, he said.
Niosh sympathises with the families of the victims and hopes such incidents will not recur, the statement said. — Bernama
