Hazardous Cameron Highland farms

Hazardous highland farms
By Simon Khoo
Tuesday November 2, 2010

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: It is estimated that half the vegetable farms here do not adhere to the standard chemical management practices as required under the law, said Occupation Safety and Health Department (DOSH) director-general Datuk Dr Johari Basri.

The conclusion was based on a field laboratory study conducted by Perak DOSH officers who randomly interviewed 45 farm workers in the highland, he added.

“During a basic occupational health check conducted in August, 46% of the respondents were found to experience backache, 16% suffer skin ailments and 8% have hearing problems.

“This is due to manual handling activities in the farms, exposure to hazardous chemicals and sound of heavy machinery.

“As such, our main aim now is to create an awareness on the need for farm operators to follow guidelines required by law,” he told The Star here.

Dr Johari said that under the Occupation Safety and Health Act 1994, action could be taken against the offenders for failing to comply with the requirements.

He said those found guilty could be fined up to RM50,000 or a maximum of three years’ jail, or both.

“We will not be too overzealous in enforcing the law as this is still something relatively new for farm operators.

“We want them to be aware of the need to follow these guidelines strictly before we start taking stern action in a year or two,” he said.

Dr Johari added that among the reasons given by farm operators for their failure to meet the regulations were lack of knowledge, communications barriers, costly protective equipments such as eye masks and respirators and that their farms were operating in a small scale.

He said several more studies would be conducted by his officers at other plantations in Johor, Sabah and Sarawak, padi farming in Sekinchan and also tea plantations here to compile more data. -- The Star News