IPOH | The Sessions Court here fined RM40,000 a palm company after its representative pleaded guilty to workplace negligence that led to the death of a worker.
Astana Endah Sdn Bhd manager Ho Chee Kang entered a guilty plea to a charge under Section 15 (1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 before judge Norashima Khalid.
The offence is punishable by a fine of not more than RM50,000, a jail sentence of not more than two years, or both.
According to the charge sheet, the company is accused of failing to ensure safe workplace conditions in Sitiawan on October 30, last year, which resulted in an accidental death of Muhammad Akmal Salleh.
Muhammad Akmal, who was a passenger in a shovel machine, died after the shovel machine lost control and overturned while descending from the slope.
Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) prosecuting officer told the court that the shovel machine was designed with a single-seat, which is only for the operator, and requested for the maximum punishment under the law against the company for failing to follow the procedure.
Norashima then fined the company RM40,000 in default to a six-month jail.
Separately, Norashima also fined Ivory Pearl Sdn Bhd, a wooden door manufacturer, RM20,000 in default of six months imprisonment after its director Lee Kok Choy pleaded guilty to negligence in workplace safety which caused Mohammad Abbas, a Bangladesh worker, to lose a middle finger on his right hand.
Mohammad Abbas lost his finger after his right hand got stuck in the door lacquer machine while washing the machine’s roller, which was still operating while he was performing the cleaning work.
The accident took place in the company at Kawasan Perindustrian Kanthan, Chemor at around 10.10am on February 21 last year.
The company was charged under the same section of the Act and carries the same punishment.
