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An employee at a factory in Johor died after falling into a spin chiller machine
According to Bernama, the incident took place on Saturday, 11 September, at a factory processing frozen chicken products on Jalan Ayer Hitam.
Johor Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) director Husdin Che Amat said that the victim was a 40-year-old who was assigned to clean the factory machinery with two other colleagues.
Image via JKKP/New Straits Times
While cleaning the machine – meant for cooling down eviscerated chicken – the victim fell inside and was squeezed by the spin chiller screw conveyor
Husdin explained, “The operation of the machinery was turned off by a colleague after seeing the victim’s legs dangling out of the machinery. The victim was confirmed dead at the scene by a medical officer.”
He also clarified that no production operation was carried out on the day of the incident and the victim was carrying out cleaning work on the spin chiller machine alone when the tragedy struck.
A ‘Prohibition Notice’ has been issued against the employer for failure to ensure that the spin chiller machinery is operated safely
The notice, issued by DOSH, was also due to the employer’s failure to provide a safe work system, especially the Lockout/Tagout system (LOTO) for machinery cleaning work.
Husdin noted the employer was also instructed to improve occupational safety and health aspects for cleaning machinery, including conducting safe work procedures and risk assessment, as well as training required for employees who are exposed to risk when cleaning the machinery.
“DOSH takes every occupational accident and illness caused by occupational activities seriously. Legal action will be taken against the responsible party in the event of a breach of regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994,” he said.
He then emphasised that employers are responsible for identifying hazards, analysing and assessing the related risks, and then implementing appropriate control measures.
“It is one of the general duties of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, where employers must provide a safe workplace for their employees and others concerned,” he added.
In addition, the employer has been instructed to take immediate action to conduct an internal investigation while further investigation will be conducted by the department.