Malaysia Airports Promotes Safety at Workplace
18 November 2009
Bayan Lepas, 18 November 2009 - To promote a safe working area and further stimulate safety-conscious workers, Malaysia Airports organised a joint safety
campaign at Penang International Airport today.
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 the 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 of 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 aspects 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 not only on a physically safe-conscious way of doing work 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 the number of incidents at the 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."
The Occupational Safety & Health (OSHA) Act of 1994 provides the legislative framework 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.
