Mou on strategic partnership inked

KUCHING: NIOSH Certification Sdn Bhd yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with TM TEC Academy (M) Sdn Bhd to form a strategic partnership that will help promote occupational safety and health (OSH) and environmental management systems in Sarawak.

Apart from promoting and creating awareness on the management systems, both parties will collaborate to provide related training and certifications on standards.

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye said the implementation of OSH and environmental management systems would bring a lot of benefits not only to the organisations but also to the workers and the local community.

“It will also help protect the environment in our pursuit to develop the country,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing ceremony of the MoU at The Waterfront Hotel here  yesterday.

NIOSH Certification was represented by its Board of Directors Chairman and NIOSH Executive Director, Zahrim Osman while TM TEC Academy was represented by its Managing Director, Richard Song Swee Jin.

Lee added based on the statistics issued by Standards Malaysia, a total of 1,057 organisations had already acquired the MS 1722 and OHSAS 18001 certifications for OSH management system while 1,225 more organisations had obtained the ISO 14001 certification for environmental management system.

“With the management system in place, the organisations involved can monitor, assess and improve the OSH and environmental management aspects through a more systematic and efficient approach.

“Both management systems also encourage continual improvement beyond compliance which gives an organisation the competitive advantage.

“Studies show that an organisation’s achievement is closely related to the implementation of the OSH and environmental management systems,” he said, adding that NIOSH Certification, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NIOSH, was a certification body accredited by Standards Malaysia.

Moreover, in line with the key focus of NIOSH, which was to nurture good OSH culture in Malaysia, NIOSH Certification provided auditing and certification services for MS 1722, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001.

In addition, Lee explained, NIOSH Certification could also certify organisations for Quality Management System (ISO 9001), Food Safety Management System (ISO 22000) and Malaysian Sustainability Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification.

He said the assessment was for compliance with national and international standards, codes of practice, guidelines, regulations and legal requirements.

“This value-added certification service is for both the government and private sector. It covers various industries, contributes towards the development of industrial recognition and helps Malaysia become a developed nation,” he said, adding NIOSH Certification also helped to promote and create awareness on standards and certification as well as organise related training programmes throughout Malaysia.

Lee also congratulated NIOSH Certification and TM TEC Academy for successfully organising a seminar on OSH and environmental management systems.

He hoped that the seminar could be held in other places in Sarawak and urged employers and OSH practitioners to encourage more workers to join the programme.

Lee congratulated Trac-Wheels (M) Sdn Bhd for its success in obtaining the certification for OSH Management System from NIOSH Certification.

He said it was a significant achievement which also proved that Trac-Wheels management’s high-level commitment in giving priority to occupational safety and health.

Also present were NIOSH Certification General Manager, Syamsul Zahrin Zainudin and TM TEC Academy Director, Lawrence Lee Chin Fook.