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SEPTEMBER 2012

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MATRICULATION NO. IDENTITY CARD NO. TELEPHONE NO. E-MAIL LEARNING CENTRE

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A REPORT REGARDING WITH THE IGNORANCE OF SAFETY REGULATIONS AT THE MATERIAL AND HANDLING DEPARTMENT OF THE SHOE FACTORY AT PANTAI MANIS PAPAR BRANCH

Prepared for: The Managing Director, Tingkat 2-4, Block B, Wisma KOSAN Likas, KM 7 Jalan Tuaran, Locked Bag No. 89, 88992 Kota Kinabalu Sabah.

By: Mastura bte Abd Hamid, The Occupational Health Manager, KM 5, Jalan Pantai Manis, Locked Bag No. 4, 89609 Papar, Sabah.

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1.

INTRODUCTION

Workplace health and safety can be a challenge, so awareness of occupational safety and health is the most basic thing that each working person must possess. This awareness will indirectly induce an employee to be more attentive and concerned about unsafe working such work activity. The government outlines few key strategic thrusts through the 10 th Malaysian Plan (2010) and one of them is creating conducive environment for unleashing economic growth which will guarantee the safety of workers as well as boost their morale to give full commitment to their employers and companies. This will then contribute to the reduction in accident rates in the employment sector and increase the rate of national productivity and efficiency. With the attainment of this end, Malaysia will be on the right track in achieving the status of a high income country by 2020. Work environment includes some factors, which either contributes positively or negatively to achieving maximum employee productivity (Elywood, 1999). In order to fulfil the nations dream come true, industrial manufactures are urged to ensure workplace environment to be improved as it will enhance productivity. We cannot measure the effectiveness of a job design without the knowledge of the working environment in which the design is place it is part of total picture. The factors which either contributes positively or negatively to employee productivity are temperature, humidity and air flow, noise, lighting, employee personal aspects, contaminants and hazards in the working environment, types of sub environment. Therefore the employees safety should be taken aware in line with the principle of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994 (2006). In this report, it is hoped that the purpose will be given attention and understood as the approval to this report will be a milestone to improve the present environment faced as well as carry out the suggested actions in the proposal promptly in order to have a continuum production without interrupting the previous plan and schedule. By doing so, the factorys environment will be upgraded and the safeness to all workforces will be standardised in order to enhance productivity and profitable income with demands from various sectors within the states. 1.1 PURPOSE OF REPORT

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The purpose of this report is to highlight the above matter to the Managing Director to foresee the problems occurred at the Material and Handling department of the branch outlet and to recommend the suggested possible measures that should be considered in order to improve the safety standard of the workers and the workplace itself. Protection of workers safety and health should be of prime concern to employers as workers are at risk of exposing themselves to various kind of hazard that exist because of the nature of work involved. As an Occupational Health Manager, it is my responsibility to prepare the Occupational and Safety standards of the company with prior knowledge to the Managing Director within this report. For the Managing Directors information, I had been on a tour to the factory recently to inspect the safeness of the environment at the Material and Handling department. After the survey was done, I discovered that operators were blatantly ignoring the safety regulation, some of them have poor attitudes towards other fellow workmates and few regarded the regulations as normal routine as if they were in no danger at all. Action should be promptly taken of before any mishap would happen and put their lives in danger. Safety regulations in the workplace need to be in place in order to assure workers that they are cared for. In this report, I would certainly hope that my proposal would be to your fully attention and will be positively given the approval with permission to implement them without delay to ensure that no incident would happen as prevention is better than cure. 1.2 PROPOSAL

As mentioned above, I would like to propose a few changes to ensure that the department in the shoe factory will be a more conducive workplace for the workers and the possible actions that should be taken promptly are to set up an up-to-date safety regulations, standardise rules to be followed, safety risk assessment schedule, discipline manners and proper protective equipment to be worn during working hours as well as workshops and motivations to the workers. Should the managing Director agrees with this proposal, I am sure the department at the shoe factory will be a satisfactory outlet that will produce high quality and standard products before they are sent for marketing. It is also my responsibility to make the workplace safe for the workers, so that accident risks are prevented and to ensure they are at ease during working hours.

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2.

THE FACTORY PRESENT SITUATION KOSAN or Koperasi Serbaguna Sanya Berhad, is a multi-purpose co-operative society.

It has a branch outlet in Papar which is the sole manufacturer of shoes in Sabah. Its core business is to produce white canvas shoes and now, it is in full production to cope with the demand from local sectors as well as from neighbouring states. It is located at Jalan Pantai Manis, three and a half miles from Papar town. It occupies a five acres site and it costs about five million to set up the project. Being a member of the State Co-operative Coordinating Committee, Pantai Manis KOSAN branch receives the assistance and guidance for their various multi-million projects. It has also implemented countless projects introduced by the government over the years and this has spawned job opportunities for the young generations in the district especially school leavers. Since 1980, the performance of the workers was successful as hundreds of different kinds of shoes have been anticipated to cater for the needs of the demanding sectors. Sabah Foundation is one of the major clients for the need of supply of canvas shoes which are to be distributed freely to all the local students in Sabah. KOSAN signed a 10-year contract with the government in 2008 to supply these shoes to all primary students in the state. Besides that, there are also some request and demands from neighbouring states like Brunei as well as West Malaysian, so it is an advantage for the factory to supply shoes of high quality to the demanding states. As mentioned above, the performance of the workers over the years made the districts economic growth and proud besides being the sole local supplier of shoes in the state. The factory produces up to 300,000 pairs of shoes on one shift operation per year. These shoes are then packed and sent to the headquarters to be distributed according to the number of demands in the marketplace. Formed under the Co-operative Act, this factory became the vehicle through which youths who are members of SANYA (Sabah National Youth Association) could directly participate in business opportunities provided by the government. The factory is constantly upgrading the skills of its employees and investing in better technologies. Ironically, the factory still needs improvement for better workplace and high attitude workforces which are problems seen in some parts of the department and should be handled promptly. Anticipation of handling these problems may make high quality production and increases profit when workers attitude

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turns positively during working hours. Nevertheless, these things would not happen if problems are not handled.

3.

THE PROBLEMS INVOLVED

Problems at the workplace are inevitable and understanding them is very important in order to solve them. Sometimes, the problems are obvious, such as employees attitude or discipline manners, employees safeness and ignorance of rules. Other times, the workplace itself harbours the problem and we might not know the cause of it, thus creating a problem that needs solving. They have to be dealt with tact and understanding. Therefore it is a need to identify the critical ones, analyse and bring improvement on the performance. In other to make the workplace as a desired workplace for the workers, patience is a need and making a swift and effective actions are better to stave off a major complicated situation. That is what needed to enhance the production of the shoe factory at Pantai Manis branch outlet, so a survey was conducted at the material and handling department. After the survey was conducted, I found out that the problems encountered had caused a minor stress and unhappy air to the workers thus neglecting some safety rules regulations. The problems encountered were:

i)
ii) iii)

Improper equipment Disorder arrangement and placement of materials Poor workers attitude Workplace environment

iv)

3.1

Improper Equipment

Workers use materials, chemicals, tools and machines to produce the different kinds of shoes. Yet some of them are not properly equipped with things that they should have or do, like wearing gloves, masks all the time and none of them wear earplugs. They do not have uniforms and no

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proper footwear. Working without proper equipment during operating the machines are dangerous too as workers are exposed to dangers. They should wear safety equipment in order to prevent any unexpected accidents prone happen especially at the finishing area. Chemicals from leaks or spills may make workers attires get burn and so they scald. Malfunction of machines while sewing or miscalculation while cutting with sharp knives might occur at unexpected time. If ever such situation happens, accident risks might happen, like getting scald, cut from sharp tools or pricked from pointed needles, so wearing proper equipment can save workers from the risks. Besides that, wearing masks can help workers from inhaling dust while packaging materials and having wear earplugs will help them from noise pollution.

3.2

Disorder arrangement and placement of materials

The materials at the shoe factory are not stacked in proper places while the machines are not in orderly arranged. The materials used are placed everywhere and are not arranged but disorderly placed. Baskets are put here and there and the cut leathers are placed in a large open cabinet-like which are exposed to flame. At the sewing area, there are workers personal things like umbrellas and bags placed near the machines where they sit. At the assembling shoe area, the materials are scattered on the table near the sewing machine and the ready-cut insole are placed on shelves which can fall at any time during emergency. If the layouts of the area are properly arranged, it would leads to a better condition and the workers would feel relieve. This is because layout affects productivity and efficiency of material handling, time and throughput. Arrangement of machines, materials and work areas could make process run smoothly, eliminating all delays possible and provide efficient operations. In other words, arrangements must be made to ensure safety and health in the use, handling or storage of products.

3.3

Poor workers attitude

Workers poor attitude is also one factor that contributes minor problem but can affects the process of shoe manufacturing at the factory. Negative attitude of some workers made the others felt unpleasant, thus bad feeling occurred and led to anger outburst among them. This was

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because few workers steal time off from working and let others finished the work. Conflict occurred among them which resulted to the interruption of continuous process. Besides that, there were also those who are in state of restlessness, despair and weariness. These changes of negative attitude made them had bad feelings with others. Such situation made few responsible workers approached and asked for solution to problems faced and that made me had the tour to the involved department. Factory workers should be able to work as a team and get along with others and handling bad feelings among workers is one great task to be done. They should cooperate among others to maintain positive attitude especially in packaging the finished product before they are sent for marketing in order to achieve the factorys goal. 3.4 Workplace Environment

The workplace environment at the material and handling department looks less conducive. The place needs reorganisation of arrangements and cleanliness. During the survey, I found out that heaps of unwanted used materials are still kept at some corner, making the workplace looks in a mess. There are no ventilation fans to let airflow and that made some workers look tired as there is not much oxygen in the environment. The place is dusty too and there are cut threads and materials on the floor as the workers are busy with their own activity at their own section. So these matters expose the workers to harmful and unhealthy situation that might lead to some healthy problems. Safety rules regulations should be attached in order for the workers to see what they should do and dont. These safety regulations not only offer workers a safer working environment, it saves time, work, business and money. If the workers follow the safety rules, productivity may increases because workforce is more stable as the workers are focus with their work.

4.

CONCLUSIONS

The high quality production of the KOSAN shoe factory at Pantai Manis depends on the workforces attitude and their safety as well as the workplaces environment. Safety rules regulations, workshop and motivation are needed in order for the workers to stay alert and focus

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during the working shift hours especially handling or operating machines. Conducive environment is a must to ensure the workers healthiness and easiness. In order to improve the situation at the department involved and having thought of ways to handle problems encountered, changes and recommendations are needed to upgrade the department, so that the factorys goal will be successfully achieved.

4.1

THE NEED TO BE CHANGES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

At present, the workers at the KOSAN shoe factory branch outlet do not have uniforms. Only a few of them wear gloves but none of them wear masks and earplugs. The department should introduce a brand uniform for the workers to wear as image that shows to consumers the pride, responsibility and teamwork are happening at the factory. Wearing a uniform can also develop standard identity as well as presentable appearance of the workers. Wearing gloves, masks, earplugs and standardise footwear like sneakers or boots are safer for the workers too as wearing them can make them easily move if there are emergencies happen. It is also easy for them to move between corners where there are materials and machines arranged in order, for the use in production of shoes demand. As mentioned earlier, a healthy environment for a shoe factory will make workers feel at ease as it looks neat and hygienic. Arranging materials in orderly will make the department site look spacious. Moreover, arranging materials use to different segments will help the workers easily look, take, use or keep them after use without difficulty. I think it is time for the factory to have a change in the arrangement and storing materials and products before they are to be commercial. It is also a need to maintain the cleanliness and conduciveness of the area before, during and after working hours. Workers attitude is also needed to change in order to achieve the factorys goal. Workers attitude plays an important theme in performance that appraises focus. Respecting each other is the most important factor to maintain quality of friendship that leads to achievement. For this to happen, motivation is needed to refresh the workers mind and to regain self-

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consciousness and integrity. I need to improve the workers performance, so that their attitude will also improve as well. All in all, there is a need of changes to the workplace environment. The involved department should be renovated into a more conducive situation. Dividing the department into sections accordingly can make it looks spacious and easy for the workers to move around to their own section respectively. In doing this initiative, I am sure the problems encountered will be solved as well as upgrading the factory. Conducive environment is very important as it influences the workers ability and mood effectively, so it needs to be supportive and stimulating.

4.2

RECOMMENDATIONS

Accidents occur unannounced, so it is very important to be prepared for such mishaps and workplace safety is an important aspect. The following recommendations should help improve the condition occurred at the material and handling department in order to meet the needs of the workers. The workplace should be kept clean of any clutter. Appropriate places should be assigned for storing or keeping materials used. Not only will this prevent unwanted accidents but it will also increase the productivity of the workers. The workers should be given clear instructions about their task. Ensure that the workers have proper training to perform the task. Safety instructions should be included wherever possible. Regular maintenance program should be conducted once a week. Machinery that has undergone wear and tear should be repaired or replaced immediately.

There should be exit drills or fire drills hold regularly. This is to ensure the workers are well aware where safety equipment is stored or where to go when any danger situation breaks out. Every worker should know where the fire extinguishers have been fixed and know how to use them.

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As the Occupational Health Manager, it is my duty to acknowledge problems and find initiatives to overcome such problems encountered. In this proposal, it is greatly hoped that the Managing Director would give permission to implement the mentioned actions that need to be promptly carried out and considered some of the recommendations to enhance the production of the shoe factory at the Pantai Manis branch, in order to cope the needs from demanding sectors.

(2,905 words)

REFERENCES Books: Elywood, J. (1999). Models for productions and operation designs. Berkerley University of California Press.

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Laws of Malaysia AC 514: Occupational Safety & Health Act 1994. (2006). The Commissioner of Law Revision Malaysia. Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd. Tenth Malaysian Plan 2011 2015. (2010). The Economic Planning Unit Prime Ministers Department. Putrajaya.

Thesis: Siti Farah Nadiah bte Taib. (2007). Design of an Improved Production Layout for a Shoe Making Factory: A case study of a Company. University Teknologi Malaysia.

Journals: Rajeshwar Bali. (1967). Workers Attitude to Work Volume 3. Pp 183 192. Shri Ram Centre.

Websites:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/safety-regulations-in-the-workplace.html http://www3.citadel.edu/hr/emp_relate/erprobinworkplace.htm

APPENDIX

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Picture 1: The Shoe Factory at Jalan Pantai Manis Papar

Picture 2: The Canvas shoes

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Picture 3: A worker at the sewing section