Rising trend of work-related commuting accidents, deaths, injuries and disabilities in developing countries: a case study of Malaysia.

Abstract

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines commuting accident as “…an accident occurring on the habitual route, in either direction, between the place of work or work-related training and: (i) the worker’s principal or secondary residence; (ii) the place where the worker usually takes his or her meals; or (iii) the place where he or she usually receives his or her remuneration; which results in death or personal injury”1). In recognizing commuting accidents as an integral component of work, the ILO has introduced a new dimension into workplace safety that is becoming a great concern in many countries, especially those in the low and middle income nations, where legislative and regulatory requirements as well as resources are lacking1). In 2002, the ILO reported that commuting accidents are only notifiable in Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Germany and Malaysia whereas the Czech Republic, France, Guyana, Japan, the Philippines and the United Kingdom, to name a few, were not on the list2). Since notification of a commuting accident is usually a mandatory requirement under the Occupational Safety and Health legislation and a necessity for insurance claim in many countries, the lack of this requirement would have severe repercussion for workers’ safety and wellbeing especially in low income and developing nations. Commuting accidents are, to a large extent, road traffic accidents since the majority of workers travel by road to work. In many parts of the world, railway transportation is another important alternative for people to commute to their workplaces. In many low income and developing nations, the majority of road users are pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists; however, with the new and improved economy, many have opted for the four-wheel drive to go to work. Thus, the risk of road traffic accidents has increased tremendously with the increased in motorised transportation, placing pedestrians, cyclists, and especially motorcyclists in the vulnerable road user group. While safety risks and resulting workplace accidents are diminishing, work-related commuting accidents are on the rise in many developed and developing nations such as Malaysia. This disturbing trend parallels the rising statistics of road traffic deaths, injuries and disabilities in many low and middle income countries due to lack of comprehensive road traffic legislation and enforcement3). According to the World Health Organization (WHO)3), nearly 3,400 people die on the world’s roads every day, about 1.24 million people die each year, between 20 and 50 million sustain non-fatal injuries, and tens of millions of people are injured or disabled every year. Over 90% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, which have only 48% of the world’s registered vehicles. The most vulnerable road users include children, pedestrians, cyclists and older people who are also the most vulnerable working populations, accounting for almost half of those who die in road traffic crashes. Young adults aged between 15 and 44 yr, the most productive workforce, account for 59% of global road traffic deaths. The WHO predicts that road traffic injuries will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 20303). According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013 (Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011–2020)3), road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem despite progress in a number of countries. To reduce the number of road traffic injuries, the pace of legislative change and enforcement need to be hastened and more attention paid to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. The ILO stated that 2.2 million work-related deaths occurred every year in which 350,000 deaths were from accidents at work, 1.7 million due to occupational diseases and 158,000 due to commuting accidents. In 2002 alone, commuting accidents have reached almost 15% of all work-related accidents in the developed countries in Europe2). Similarly, in Malaysia, commuting accidents involving employees who commute from their homes to their place of work and vice-versa has become a major off-the-job safety issue in Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)4).