NIOSH will organise nationwide safety campaign in all tahfiz schools

The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) will organise a nationwide safety campaign to help on the safety awareness in all tahfiz or religious schools, said its Chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye.

He said the campaign was crucial since fires were still reported at several tahfiz schools after a similar incident killed 21 students and two wardens at the Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah, Kampung Datuk Keramat on Sept 14.

Lee said at the start of the campaign, NIOSH would hold an Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) awareness programme for the tahfiz schools in Selangor on Oct 30 and expected the programme to be expanded to the other states.

"To ensure the effectiveness of the programme, NIOSH will provide OSH guideline that can be used by all tahfiz schools throughout the country," he said in a statement, on Sunday.

He added that NIOSH would also provide a special manual and standard form to enable the audit process to be made swiftly and accurately.

At the same time, NIOSH would continue to visit various types of tahfiz schools, based on the number of students, to help identify hazards and other issues related to OSH.

"The implementation of the OSH at tahfiz schools is a more comprehensive concept as it considers the institution as a place of work and is subjected to the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA 1994)," he added.

-- BERNAMA