National Work Safety Day commemorates the deadliest industrial disaster in Thai history

supawadee wangsri

 

 

BANGKOK, 11 MAY (NNT) - 2019The tragedy of the Kader Toy Factory fire in Nakhon Pathom province, which occurred on 10 May 1993, caused hundreds of deaths and injuries. The incident prompted all sectors to collaborate on enhancing work safety, and the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare has designated May 10 of every year National Work Safety Day. This year, the department aims to reduce work accidents by more than 10 percent.

 

Mr. Vivathana Thanghong, Director General of the Department of Labor Protection and Welfare, presided over the opening ceremony of the event to mark National Safety Day 2019 to remind workers in all occupations of the importance of work safety and encourage them to learn from past events especially the fire disaster at the Kader doll factory in Nakhon Pathom that killed 188 employees and injured more than 400 others 26 years ago, in order to determine work safety standards.

 

The Director General said "Safety Thailand" is an essential policy which focuses on strictly enforcing laws along with raising safety awareness among those involved and cooperating with all sectors in accordance with the Pracharat approach. The move has decreased the number of workers killed and crippled, who lost organs or took more than three days off work in 2018 to 2.59 per 1,000 workers, or by 10 percent with a rate of 2.8 in 2017.

 

The figures in the first six months of 2019 has decreased to 1.19 per 1,000 workers or by 10.27 percent when compared to the same period last year, exceeding the goal of five percent per year. This indicates that physical harm and death at work have decreased significantly after the enforcement of strict safety measures.

 

-- © Copyright nnt 2019-05-12

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Safety , in Thailand, with myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy reputation

 

44 minutes ago, rooster59 said:

The Director General said "Safety Thailand" is an essential policy which focuses on strictly selectively enforcing or inventing laws

ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa no no no my sides can't handle it gufaaaaaaaaaaaaw!!

Unforunately whilst that was a terrible accident, a lot more work still has to be done to encourage safer work practices throughout Thailand. The widest yet easiest piece of education that would drastically help would be to encourage no flip flips on any type of construction site.  I doubt that there are any statistics available but a friend of a family member working in a hospital often says how many people"per day"  she treats have sliced their feet/toes on re-bar because they were only wearing flip flops.

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

prompted all sectors to collaborate on enhancing work safety

Having had 50 years in the heavy construction industry I have not observed any enhanced safety protocols on any construction site.  After 26 years has Safety Thailand made any real progress?  A safety helmet with flip flop shoes, or Chinese manufactured rubber boots does nothing to ensure overall personal safety - ear protection, what's that?  Eye protection?  Unheard of!  Proper leather gloves, fall arrest protection, proper scaffolding and ladders, to name a few shortcomings, are not to be seen. 

Building sites pale into insignificance when compared with Thai roads.  If they can't sort this then there is no hope in other walks of life.

Safety simply does not exist in Thailand 

Safety First, then Teamwork ...

 

Any excuse for a photo opp and free buffet

4 hours ago, Prairieboy said:

Having had 50 years in the heavy construction industry I have not observed any enhanced safety protocols on any construction site. 

Safety is directly related to making money, only when it is cheaper to "work safely" will safe work practices be commonplace, as long as greedy owners are allowed to continue abusing their labour, safety will take second place, for this to happen need rules and regulations and standards enforced, may take a while.

Surprisingly the offshore Oil & Gas industry in Thailand works to a very high standard of safety, mainly due to "internationals enforcing their standards which have now been taken onboard by government agencies.

Bracketing together the words 'Safety Day' and 'Thailand' in the same clause is perhaps the biggest insult to anyone's intelligence that could ever be imagined - only surpassed by the ludicrous linkage of 'Thailand' and 'Democracy'!

The incredible thing is a government department has actually referenced the Kader Toy Factory fire. The cover-up, protection of the owners by the courts and under the carpet sweeping were truly shocking.

 

The only thing I can think of is that the Department of Labour Protection and Welfare was so appalled by the post-tragedy whitewash that they have done this. Despite Thailand's woeful industrial safety record, there are safety regulators with knowledge who do actually believe in what they are doing.

1 hour ago, CGW said:

Safety is directly related to making money, only when it is cheaper to "work safely" will safe work practices be commonplace, as long as greedy owners are allowed to continue abusing their labour, safety will take second place, for this to happen need rules and regulations and standards enforced, may take a while.

Surprisingly the offshore Oil & Gas industry in Thailand works to a very high standard of safety, mainly due to "internationals enforcing their standards which have now been taken onboard by government agencies.

I would say the same for Mass Transit in Bangkok, operation of which is highly regulated. There are  some gaps in construction safety, mainly due to weak enforcement as the work is subcontracted and there is no  government Health and Safety Executive.

18 hours ago, CGW said:

only when it is cheaper to "work safely" will safe work practices be commonplace

Safety doesn't cost, it pays!

 

Safety and Thailand, now there's an oxymoron.

1 hour ago, Prairieboy said:

Safety doesn't cost, it pays!

 

Great slogan , you should start your own campaign.............. ????