Saturday, March 07, 2020

Pregnant Woman and 3 others dies at construction site - Why owners and Directors still not charged for the killing/'murder'??

A woman pregnant with child dies and many others have been killed or seriously injured in construction site accidents in Malaysia.

“Then 29-year-old pregnant woman was hit when a staircase at a construction site collapsed,” 
A man and his pregnant wife were killed on Sunday (Jul 21) after a staircase at a construction site collapsed  ..
In this incident, the police classified the death of the pregnant woman and 4 others as 'sudden death' - not murder or manslaughter. Will the police even investigate after classifying a death - a 'sudden death'? Should they not do a thorough investigation first before classifying a death?

Sungai Buloh OCPD Supt Shafa’aton Abu Bakar said the case has been classified as sudden death.

Was there an inquest (inquiry into the death) done by the Coroner? Remember, the object of these inquiries is to also establish whether anyone is criminally liable...

A Magistrate holding an inquiry shall inquire when, where, how and after what manner the deceased came by his death and also whether any person is criminally concerned in the cause of the death.(Section 337, Criminal Procedure Code)

So in this case of the death of the pregnant woman, and the 3 others who died when they came to the woman's rescue...was there an INQUEST - if yes, what was the findings of the Coroner(Magistrate) - Was there anyone 'criminally concerned in the cause of the death'?

Or, was there no inquest done ...and all that was done was just to update the statistics about deaths at construction site 'accidents'...

When persons responsible for the construction site did not ensure that the worksite was safe, and death is the result. Is that not a crime? I think it is, and it should be - the Directors or Partners of Sole Proprietor and others did not have in place all the requirements, in law, to ensure it is a safe working environment - they just 'intentionally' created a 'death trap' - it was a situation just waiting for some accident(or incident) to happen that may result in death or injury. 

If you own or drive a defective car, maybe with poor brakes or bad tyres, and because of that an accident happened, would you call that 'ACCIDENT' and no criminal liability for the death or injury caused?

Now, for construction sites, a dangerous work environment, we have LAWS enacted to make it a safer environment....is that all a JOKE? So, the question was whether the developer or the contractor do the needful in accordance to law to ensure safety - if not, he or she must be made responsible for the death. 

You place or create a 'death trap'  and someone dies or is injured - charge them for murder or killing, and all others should be charged as 'accomplices'...and the sentence must be a deterent sentence - imprisonment ...not simply a fine.

Going around Malaysia, we see so many construction sites do not even have a safety fence around it, to prevent innocent persons, including children, wondering into the site getting injured or killed. 

Who decided not to comply with the safety requirements - maybe to safe money. The only one capable of making such decisions as far as a company is concerned are the DIRECTORS - without their consent, none of their employees, including CEOs and Managers can do anything. However, if the Directors said that all safety regulations had to be complied, and made the monies required available, and then some CEO, Manager or Supervisor did not comply with the Company's(i.e. the Directors' specific instruction), then maybe some other may be held criminally liable. 

When drugs were a problem, the government introduced DETERRENT sentences... However, for deaths and injury of workers, the government seems not bothered of these lower income group of workers. Shockingly, not compliance of workplace safety laws carries just FINES of RM50,000 - which is nothing for the big contractors/companies > It seems that some, rather than putting in place things/measures to ensure a safe working environment are OK to just pay fines if they are caught ...or maybe even 'bribe' inspectors or other enforcement...SAFETY OF WORKERS IS THE LEAST OF THEIR PRIORITY? Many are lucky that no incidents occur resulting in death or injury...BUT HUMAN LIVES SHOULD NEVER BE GAMBLED WITH..

In Australia, in many regions they have introduced 'Industrial Manslaughter' provisions, which carries sentences of life imprisonment or up to 30 years in prison. It is a start...but more need to be done.

Malaysia needs laws that penalizes the real culprit when death/injury to workers happen contributed by the fact of a non-safe working environment. It is the Directors and the shareholders that ought to be held criminally liable - all others be it the CEOs, Managers, Supervisors are all agents, also employees of the company..

When Directors and owners of construction companies start going to jail...surely every other employer company will make sure that workplaces are safe and all laws enacted by Parliament to protect workers are complied with. Besides the laws, there is a duty for all employers to ensure a safe workplace..

Now the families of that pregnant women and 3 others deserve justice - and Malaysia can still charge them for the death. Penal Code could be used for now, until Malaysia enacts stricter laws..

Is worker safety not the priority of the government? 

This incident happened last year - but so many others are dying or getting seriously injured in Malaysian construction sites - and sadly, media fails to report on most cases..

Are we going to be disinterested about these deaths, many could have been avoided by strict adherence to laws to ensure a safe working space...

 

See earlier post:-  

Workers dies/injured because of Company wrongdoings - but Directors not charged and imprisoned? Like 'Fine the CAR not the Driver/Owner?'


4, including pregnant woman, killed at Sg Buloh construction site

Firemen inspecting the staircase which collapsed and led to the death of the four in Kampung Matang Pagar, Sungai Buloh. (Bomba pic)
PETALING JAYA: Four individuals were killed at a construction site today in Sungai Buloh after the partially-built stairs of a building collapsed.

Three of them were electrocuted when they tried to help a woman trapped in the ruins.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department chief Norazam Khamis said they received a call about 1pm, informing them about a building structure collapse at Kampung Matang Pagar, Sungai Buloh.

The department then sent five officers and a fire truck from the Sungai Buloh fire station to the scene.
“A 29-year-old pregnant woman was hit when the staircase of the double-storey house under construction collapsed.

“Three men rushed to assist her.
Another view of the building that collapsed. (Bomba pic)
“They were unaware that an electric current was flowing out after the collapse.

“The three men, including an Indonesian, were electrocuted while going to the woman’s rescue,” he said.

Norazam added the four were pronounced dead by health personnel after they were taken out from the crash site.

He identified the victims as Wan Hasheliza Wan Ibrahim, 29, Mohd Radezi Abdul Aziz, 35, Shahril Apipie Mokhtar, 29, and an Indonesian known as Bambang Sulistio.
Police have sealed off the area for further investigations. - FMT, 22/7/2019

Pregnant woman and rescuers die in construction site accident

Nation


Monday, 22 Jul 2019 12:00 AM MYT




Unpleasant task: Firemen working on extricating the body of the pregnant woman.

PETALING JAYA: A pregnant woman was crushed to death while three other men who rushed to rescue her died from electric shock following a construction site accident in Sungai Buloh.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Depart-ment director Norazam Khamis said the department received a distress call at 12.57pm yesterday.


“We immediately dispatched a fire engine with seven officers to the scene at Kampung Matang Pagar.


“The 29-year-old pregnant woman was hit when a staircase at a construction site collapsed,” he said yesterday.


He said three other men rushed to her aid but they also ended up as victims.

“They were electrocuted as electric current was still flowing following the collapse.

“All four victims died at the scene,” he said, adding that his personnel managed to extricate the body of the woman and removed the three other bodies.

The victims were identified as Wan Hasheliza Wan Ibrahim, 29, Mohd Radezi Abdul Aziz, 35, Shahril Apipie Mokhtar, 29, and an Indo-nesian man known as Bambang Sulistio.

Sungai Buloh OCPD Supt Shafa’aton Abu Bakar said the case has been classified as sudden death.

He added that the bodies of the four victims have been sent to the Sungai Buloh Hospital for post-mortems. - Star, 22/7/2019

Husband and pregnant wife killed in Malaysia staircase collapse

Husband and pregnant wife killed in Malaysia staircase collapse
The pregnant woman had been eating durian under the staircase when the structure collapsed on her. (Photo: Bernama)

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