The Occupational Safety and Health (“OSH”) policy of the Group has been adopted in
all its operating units. This serves as a testimony of the Group’s commitment to protect
the safety and health of all employees at their workplace. “Safety And Health Is Everyone’s Responsibility” is the Group’s axiom to create and maintain the constant awareness and due attention on this important subject. Various trainings, refresher courses and exercises were conducted during the year for the benefit of both employees and contractors to enable them to carry out their respective daily processes in a responsible and safe manner. All employees involved in chemical spraying and milling process were provided with personal protection equipment (“PPE”).
In the reporting year, occupational and safety committees in all operating units have functioned effectively. The committees comprised of representatives from the workers in addition to the management and supervisory category of employees. Meetings were held to review all accident cases, discuss progress of OSH projects and to provide updates on changes in regulations and procedures. To support the safety committees, the Group has a qualified Safety and Health Officer. His function includes monitoring and provision of advisory and training on OSHA and best practices, in addition to conduct periodical audits. His key responsibility is to ensure that the Group is in compliant with all requirements of OSHA. In the reporting year, the management has initiated review and further improvement on the Group’s OSH framework. Gap analysis has been carried out on the current practices. An auditable system with sets of common key performance indicators will be established to monitor and measure the OSH performance of the respective operating units. In order to increase awareness, a dedicated OSH week is held annually. All operating units in the Group participated during the year by organising various OSH related activities. Series of talks and demonstrations covering safe handling of chemicals, proper usage of fire extinguishers, benefits of PPE and first aid were carried out. Farm tractors operators were also given training on proper maintenance of their respective tractors to enhance their safety awareness. OSH related competitions were held amongst employees to boost their enthusiasm while performance awards were given in appreciation of excellent OSH practices. The civil defence emergency response team that was formed in the Group’s kernel crushing plant to respond to fire fighting, casualty rescue and first aid continued with their competency training during the year. Amongst the activities carried out were emergency rescue simulation, fire drills and first aid. Other than responding to an emergency call at the workplace, the team has been trained to extend their services to the wider surrounding community.
Medical surveillance and basic health screening, in particular for sprayers, were carried out by both the in-house medical staff and visiting medical officer. All employees have been given access to health care, either at the various health clinics operated in the Group or at government and privately operated medical establishments. Vaccinations were also given to workers children. First aid kits were also placed at selected labour quarters to enable quicker response. Employees are encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle with balanced food intake and effective exercise. Sports and health conscious activities were carried out throughout the year. These included daily outdoor games after work hours, weekly hash runs and friendly annual sport competitions