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BEM magazine
53
LEMBAGA JURUTERA MALAYSIA BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA KDN PP11720/01/2010(023647) ISSN 0128-4347 VOL.43 SEPT-NOV 2009 RM10.00
Transcript
Page 1: BEM (Safety & Health)

LEMBAGA JURUTERA MALAYSIABOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA

KDN PP11720/01/2010(023647) ISSN 0128-4347 VOL.43 SEPT-NOV 2009 RM10.00

Page 2: BEM (Safety & Health)

Volume 43 Sept - Nov 2009

4 President’s Message

Editor’s Note

6 Announcement PelaksanaanOne Stop Centre (OSC) Online PublicationCalender

Cover Feature 8 OccupationalSafetyAndHealthForensics

15 SafetyAndHealth InRoadTransportation

18 SafetyAndHealthAssessmentSystem InConstruction

Engineering & Law 21 ThePAMContract2006AtAGlance

Feature 23 LegislativeApproachToWaterQualityManagement In Malaysia–SuccessAndChallenges

28 EconomicValueOfWildBees InHoneyCollection FromTheForest

33 GoodAnimalHusbandryPractice

37 CentralizedAndDecentralizedWastewaterManagement InMalaysia–ExperiencesAndChallenges (Part 2)

45 SafetyofElectricalWorkers

49 TreatmentofTimber InHousingForSafeOccupation

Engineering Nostalgia 54 AMegaProject InThe1970s–TemengorHydro ElectricProject

55 KualaLumpur InThe1950s– JalanMedanPasar

53

54

8

c o n t e n t s

45

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president’s message

The recent spate of building failures has attracted wide publicity in the press. Engineers as usual are conveniently associated with these mishaps. Public perception of engineer’s role and competencies with respect to the above should remind us to revisit the safety and health aspects of our design and supervision works.

The work of Occupational Safety and Health Forensics is well highlighted in an article from DOSH. The Construction Industry Standard on Safety and Health Assessment System in Construction (SHASSIC) paper provides an insight into the important aspects of site assessment that should be of interest to the construction site management team.

As the year end is always linked to monsoons and natural mishaps, we hope extra effort will be given to mitigating foreseeable landslides through better management of safety and health measures.

Ir Fong Tian YongEditor

KDN PP11720/01/2010(023647) ISSN 0128-4347

As the nation continues on its way to fully developed status, the health and welfare of its workforce become ever more important. The role of engineers in ensuring safety and health cannot be overstated, whether directly as safety officers, designers or as engineers in maintenance of plant and equipment.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994 (OSHA) makes it obligatory for the designer of

buildings as well as plants to ensure that they are safe for use. Safety and health matters encompass almost every aspect of engineering works from the simple electronic assembly factory to utilities, industries and complex construction works. Many shop drawings require sound engineering input on good method statement. Engineers can no longer leave it to contractors alone to ensure work site safety. Work site accident rate can be reduced further if all stakeholders go the extra mile to give due priority to safety and health matters. The costs resulting from an accident such as medical and insurance payments can be exorbitant. Where it results in loss of human lives, the anguish of the victim’s family is tremendous. As the pace of technological advancement continues its steep upward curve, engineers will be expected to come up with innovative measures to address safety and health issues.

I hope that the recently introduced Safety and Health Assessment System in Construction developed by CIBD will enhance the overall safety and health standard in our construction sites and all other work places. More standards and guidelines in other work places should be drawn up as the safety and health of our work force cannot be compromised.

Dato’ Sri Prof Ir. Dr. Judin bin Abdul KarimPresidentBOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA

Vol. 43 Sept - Nov 2009

editor’s note

4 THE INGENIEUR

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIA (BEM) 2009/2010

PresidentYBhg. Dato’ Sri Prof. Ir. Dr Judin Abdul Karim

SecretaryIr. Ruslan Abdul Aziz

RegistrarIr. Hizamul-Din Ab. Rahman

MembersYBhg Tan Sri Prof. Ir. Dr Mohd Zulkifli bin Tan Sri Mohd Ghazali

YBhg Dato’ Ir. Hj. Ahmad Husaini bin SulaimanYBhg. Dato’ Ir. Abdul Rashid Maidin

YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Dr Johari bin BasriYBhg. Datuk (Dr) Ir. Abdul Rahim Hj. Hashim

YBhg. Brig. Jen. Dato’ Pahlawan Ir. Abdul Nasser bin Ahmad YBhg. Dato’ Ir. Prof. Dr Chuah Hean Teik

YBhg. Datuk Ir. Anjin Hj AjikYBhg. Datuk Ar. Dr Amer Hamzah Mohd Yunus

Ir. Wong Siu HiengIr. Mohd Rousdin bin HassanIr. Prof. Dr Ruslan bin Hassan

Ir. Tan Yean ChinIr. Vincent Chen Kim Kieong

Ir. Chong Pick Eng Mr Jaafar bin Shahidan

EDITORIAL BOARD

AdvisorYBhg. Dato’ Sri Prof. Ir. Dr Judin Abdul Karim

SecretaryIr. Ruslan Abdul Aziz

ChairmanYBhg. Dato’ Ir. Abdul Rashid bin Maidin

EditorIr. Fong Tian Yong

MembersProf. Sr. Ir. Dr Suhaimi bin Abdul Talib

Ir. Ishak bin Abdul Rahman Ir. Prof. Dr K.S. Kannan

Ir. Mustaza bin Salim Ir. Prem Kumar

Ir. Mohd Rasid OsmanIr. Dr Zuhairi Abdul Hamid

Ir. Ali Askar bin Sher MohamadIr. Rocky Wong

Executive DirectorIr. Ashari Mohd Yakub

Publication OfficerPn. Nik Kamaliah Nik Abdul Rahman

Assistant Publication OfficerPn. Che Asiah Mohamad Ali

Design and ProductionInforeach Communications Sdn Bhd

PrinterArt Printing Works Sdn Bhd

29 Jalan Riong, 59100 Kuala Lumpur

The Ingenieur is published by the Board of Engineers Malaysia (Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia) and is distributed free of charge to

registered Professional Engineers.

The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers.

BEM invites all registered engineers to contribute articles or send their views and comments to

the following address:

Commnunication & IT Dept.Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia, Tingkat 17, Ibu Pejabat JKR,

Jalan Sultan Salahuddin,50580 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-2698 0590 Fax: 03-2692 5017E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]

Website: http://www.bem.org.my

AdvertisingSubscription Form is on page 48

Advertisement Form is on page 56

Page 4: BEM (Safety & Health)

announcement

Kepada Semua Jurutera Profesional,

PELAKSANAAN ONE STOP CENTRE (OSC) ONLINE

Susulan Mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Tetap Pengaduan Awam Bil. 1/2009 yang dipengerusikan oleh Y.Bhg. Tan Sri KSN, Jabatan Kerajaan Tempatan telah menganjurkan satu mesyuarat yang turut dihadiri oleh wakil Lembaga Jurutera Malaysia (LJM), Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia (LAM), REHDA dan Lembaga Perancang Bandar dan Desa membincangkan isu keseragaman pelan-pelan yang akan dikemukakan oleh submitting person bagi pelaksanaan OSC online. Mesyuarat tersebut bersetuju agar keperluan-keperluan berikut diambil kira:-

1. Menunjukkan lokasi Pencawang TNB dan Sewerage Treatment Plant di dalam pelan susunatur;

2. Menunjukkan lokasi tangki septik individu di dalam pelan bangunan; serta

3. Menunjukkan lokasi feeder pillar dan fire hydrant di dalam pelan jalan dan parit.

Pelan-pelan ini akan menjadi sebahagian daripada Perjanjian Jual Beli yang ditandatangani.

Semua Jurutera adalah diingatkan untuk mematuhi keperluan-keperluan di atas.

Sekian.

Saya Yang Menurut Perintah,

SetiausahaLembaga Jurutera Malaysia.

BOARD OF ENGINEERS MALAYSIACIRCULAR NO. 1/2009

PAYMENT OF STAMP DUTY

Reference is made to the amendment and implementation of the First Schedule of the Stamp Act 1949 (act) which came into effect from 1st January 2009. Consequential to this amendment, all service agreements of the construction industry are now chargeable with an ad valorem stamp duty at the rate of RM5.00 for every RM1,000.00, or part thereof, of the total contract value. Prior to that, the stamp duty for such contract was a standard fixed sum of RM10.00.

The Board is of the view that Stamp Duty, similar to Service Tax, is not part and parcel of the fees payable to an engineering consultant for services rendered to a client. As such, Stamp Duty shall be borne by the client.

Should ‘BEM FORM (1999) – BEM MODEL FORM OF MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN CLIENT AND CONSULTING ENGINEER FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES’ is used, engineers are advised to insert the following new clause under General Conditions prior to signing the agreement :-

Clause 11.9 The Client shall be responsible for paying any Stamp Duty arising from the signature and executive of the Agreement.

[269th Board Meeting / 12th May 2009]

DATO’ SRI PROF. Ir. DR. JUDIN ABDUL KARIMPresidentBOARD OF ENGINEERS MALYSIA

Dec 2009: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

March 2010: FACILITY ASSET MANAGEMENT

June 2010: WATER

Sept 2010: HILL-SLOPE DEVELOPMENT

Dec 2010: TRANSPORTATION & SAFETY

Page 5: BEM (Safety & Health)

By Ke Geok Chuan Director, Forensic Engineering Division, DOSH, Malaysia

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Occupational Safety And Health Forensics

Forensic comes f rom the Latin word ‘forensis’ meaning ‘public’ and in those early

days, cases were brought to the public square or forum to be discussed and resolved. Nowadays, it refers to facts pertaining to or f i t ted for legal or public argumentation in the courts of law.1

Readers wil l be given an overview of occupational safety and heal th forensics, in the context of science-based techniques and processes that are applied to obtain crucial and relevant in format ion and fac t s when undertaking investigation into the accidents (of myriad nature and characteristics) in the workplaces-structural collapse, combustible dust explosion, catastrophic failure of pressurized vessel, toxic gas release or occupational hygiene malaise. Such forensic findings can then be used and contended later in the law court, or formal argumentation.

Questions that occupational safety and health forensics seek to answer are:

(i) How did the workplace accident or occupational poisoning malaise happen and whether it is accidental or due to negligence?

(ii) Why the building or structure collapse in a progressive manner?

(iii) What are the items, exhibits or evidence are to be discovered, recovered, collected, bagged, tagged and preserved for eventual analysis in the accredited testing laboratory?

(iv) What on-si te monitoring measurements are to be recorded in case of toxic gas releases, and the techniques used?

The paper will explain occupational safety and health forensics and how forensic engineering approach and methodology can be used for occupational safety and health forensic investigations. It will then touch on the beginning of the Forensic Engineering Division under the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), its activities and the investigative processes involved. This will be followed with examples on occupational safety and health forensic investigations that had been conducted. Finally, this paper will elaborate what has been achieved, and how result-oriented investigations on workplace accident allow DOSH to respond proactively to such matter of interest, with the issuance of further policy directive or action.

Scene of Jaya Supermarket building collapse

8 THE INGENIEUR

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(v) Who occupied the workplace and had control and duty of care over it?(vi) When and where it happened, for example, while work is in process in the work area?(vii) What nature of work was undertaken before and during the accident?

These answers can be found by conducting occupational safety and health forensic investigations through the forensic engineering approach which i s one of the fields of expertise under forensic science. Using this approach means using the art and science of engineering in identifying the root or basic causes of the accidents involving p lants , mater ia l s , products , structures or components in the workplaces. Such answers cannot be underpinned through classical investigation due to its underlying limitations.

Specifically, there are various sources of information and facts that can be obtained when conducting a forensic engineering investigation.2

● Initial site observations, findings and recordings at the scene of accident or plant wreckage;● The documentary records and statements from the witnesses or any knowledgeable persons; photographs; contract documents; site CCTV tapes; aerial or land survey of the area; sketches of the work accident scene; building, structure or plant drawings and calculations; technical information copied from computer hard discs; written records of inspection, repair and maintenance;● Physical samples or evidence collected from the scene of accident, and the results obtained

later from accredited testing laboratory; ● On-site sampling or measurement readings using validated rapid-test investigation kits for transient or physical samples; and ● Using validated computer software for engineering analysis or modelling, to simulate and u n d e r s t a n d t h e m o d e a n d mechanism of the accident-structural failure, toxic gas releases or explosion.

C o n s e q u e n t l y, o b t a i n i n g information and facts judiciously on the accident will allow preparation of complete engineering reports, testimony at hearings and trials in adminis t rat ive or judicial proceedings, and the rendition of further policy directives by the department with regards to the preventive measures affecting life and property.

Background on Forensic Engineering Division

The Forens ic Eng inee r ing Division was set up on June 1, 2007, under the Department of

Occupational Safety and Health, Ministry of Human Resources. The dec i s ion to se t up the d iv i s ion came f rom Cabinet after the high-profile accident case on December 30, 2005, involving the fall of a piece of heavy formwork from a building under construction on a car in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur. The accident caused the death of an influential corporate director and caused serious injuries to his wife. Their driver escaped unscathed.

Presently, it has 11 officers who are from various technical disciplines and background and is housed in the Department’s head office.

There are five sections under the division, namely:-

(i) Mechanical engineering;(ii) Construction engineering;(iii) Occupational Hygiene; (iv) Petrochemical; and(v) Laboratory Testing.

Each section is headed by a senior officer who then reports to the divisional director.

Figure 1 Statistics of Fatality Accident by sectors by DOSH

THE INGENIEUR 9

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Roles and responsibilities of Forensic Engineering Division

Th e D iv i s i o n u n d e r t a k e s and leads forensic engineering investigations into high-profile accident cases; assists law courts by giving expert opinion in the determination of cases when sub-poena is received by the officer; and also provides casework support and assistance to the investigating officers from regional offices for cases which are highly technical and complex in nature.

W h e n n e c e s s a r y , t h e division can be called by other Government departments to assist in the investigation of collapse of building structure, fatalities at the Figure 2 Negative impacts due to incident at workplace.

Figure 3 Basic OSH framework managemet system based on OHSAS18001

10 THE INGENIEUR

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workplace, and premature failure of completed building system and machinery.

Since its inception, the division has notched several casework successes. About four completed cases have been decided by the courts and the responsible party or parties have been fined and sanctioned. A few cases are still pending, awaiting the decisions of the courts.

In all workplace accidents, investigation officers from regional offices will lead investigations but the provision of specialized investigative services for complex or intricate cases will be provided by the Forensic Engineering Division. Written protocol on the need for forensic engineering services during investigation have been established and communicated clearly to divisional and regional officers.

Also, the division’s involvement in such accident cases in the past two years, have contributed and helped the regional offices to reduce the number of cold or unresolved cases.

Forensic Engineering Investigation Process

Forensic engineering investigation starts from initial site visit, through report preparation to adjudication and tends to be holistic, involving multiple disciplines, a variety of old tools (used in the new ways), and new tools.

The most successful forensic engineering investigations rely on

the approach of selecting the most applicable scientific techniques from numerous methodologies.

An investigation relying on the results of single forensic techniques, exclusive of other available tools, is frequently successfully challenged when contrary evidence based on multiple forensic approaches is introduced. When forensic evidence is arrayed as multiple, but independent lines of evidence, a stronger scientific case, less susceptible to scientific challenge emerges.2

Attention has to be given during the collection of evidence in the accident scene to ensure that the strict requirement of chain of custody is upheld at all times. Otherwise, the case exhibits or samples that have been collected even though relevant to the investigation can be held inadmissible later in the courts of law. This comes about when the defendant can raise reasonable doubt on the management of the exhibits that have been identified and collected.

Reconstruction of the accident or event will be conducted after

Figure 4 The objectives of Construction Design Management Regulations

Figure 5 CHAIR Process

THE INGENIEUR 11

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the laboratory results have been received so that the testable hypotheses can be checked and confirmed for the complete accident report to be prepared.

L a t e l y, t h e r e h ave b e e n increasing number of prosecutions by t he Depa r tmen t aga in s t companies who have contravened occupational safety and health laws. It is expected that some of these cases can become extremely protracted, as expert witnesses in law court sometimes provide conflicting interpretations of the investigative data.

I t i s in th i s context tha t occupational safety and health forensics is developing into a specialism, leading to greater formalization of investigation methods, which should lead to more definitive findings and less scope for experts to disagree. Now it is a significant subject in its own right in courses offered by local and overseas public universities.

Forensic cases investigated

Some of the big cases that have been investigated are as follows: combustible dust explosion in a grains and flour milling factory in Lumut which caused the death of four workers and widespread and severe damage to the loading and unloading jetty and appurtenances; fire and explosion caused by static electricity discharge during the processing of stevia powder in Nilai which caused serious damages to factory building, and costly production outages; fire on two bulk storage tanks at the petroleum terminal facility in Tanjung Langsat Port with damages running into millions of dollars which was recorded by the site CCTV; and fire and explosion

involving acetylene gas during filling and bottling operation, at the factory in Simpang Pulai which caused injuries to workers, massive damage to production facility, and destruction of more than 400 cylinder bottles.

Since its inception, the Division has investigated a number of interesting and highly technical cases involving construction or engineering activities. Examples are: the sudden collapse of elevated temporary loading platform at the Kipmart building project site, Tampoi in June 2007 which caused three fatalities; failures of several hammerhead and luffing tower cranes during lifting operation and involving a number of fatalities in the last two years; cascading collapse and failure of several TNB transmission towers during stringing and tensioning of metal conductors on April 14, 2008 in Kapar,Klang with one fatality; failure of temporary gondola or motorized loading platform equipment in early 2008 which caused the death of three construction workers

in Bukit Antarabangsa; and the catastrophic collapse of Jaya Supermarket, Petaling Jaya on May 28, 2009, at about 5.00pm during the demolition work on the building. The collapsed portion of the building was constructed using the two-way pre-stressed concrete unbounded tendons method. The accident killed seven workers and injured three workers.

In the latter case, which caught the attention of the country’s leadership, the Division led the forensic engineering investigation i n t o t he acc iden t and t he reports have been completed and made available to other Government departments for further deliberation.

Since the case was complicated, technical assistance and expertise was sought from the Construction Engineering Testing Unit (CETU), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Such technical collaboration with outside agency will be strengthened further in the years ahead. Through such joint investigative actions, the underlying causes for the

Figure 6 Steps in implementing GUIDE

12 THE INGENIEUR

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Page 10: BEM (Safety & Health)

progressive failure of the building structure had been discovered, analyzed, and concluded within the time-frame agreed.

Recently, the Division was also called to investigate an accident case at the jetty in Tanjung Karang fishing village. In this unfortunate case, there were six fatalities and three injuries due to exposure and inhalation of toxic gas involving hydrogen sulphide (H2S).The gas evolved when the decomposition of the discarded fishes took place in the storage compartments, due to power outages for five days. The stocks were usually packed in 50-kg bags and then normally kept refrigerated. The holding stock in each compartment is about 3,000kg.

Post-accident measurements of the H 2S levels in the holding compartments, using calibrated multi-gas meters, found that the levels exceeded 100ppm. At the levels recorded, the concentrations of H2S deadened the smell and no odour was detectable. Carbon disulphide (CS2), and carbon monoxide (CO) gases were also detected but ammonia (NH3) gas was not detected. The refrigeration system used chlorofluoromethane or R-22 as the refrigerant media. Leak tests on the cooling coils, fixtures, connections and appurtenances did not show any leakages and the system test pressure was maintained. The accident findings had been communicated to the state Government and other relevant authorities. Briefings to fishermen and owners of the other jetties have been scheduled to make workers, employers and occupiers aware of what had happened and how to safeguard their personal safety and health. Brochures containing basic safety information when working in such similar environment will be circulated.

Lessons learnt

Repercussions from the Jaya Supermarket building collapse, for example, reverberated beyond the accident site: causing great inconveniences to the surrounding residents; affecting the public who were passing by the area; and disrupting

Fish holding compartment in Tanjung Karang Village where six died

THE INGENIEUR 13

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business activities around the scene of the accident.

From cases investigated, a lot of useful occupational safety and health information were obtained which can then be used by the Department to formulate further policy directives to prevent such similar accidents or events. Emphasis is placed on lessons learned from each failure.

Steps have been taken to have such information disclosed and disseminated to the workers, public and all other interested parties through the publication of forensic engineering case series; seminars and promotion activities; and the publication of ‘Safety Alerts’ in the department’s portal http://www.dosh.gov.my

It is important that written documents from the companies are taken into possession early, to allow the investigators to examine, analyze and extract whatever pertinent information and facts that may help in the direction and management of the case.

Additionally, there is a need for an internet-based repository system with capabilities to store, archive, retrieve and distribute relevant technical data, information and facts during an accident investigation. Also, the facility will allow for on-line interactive discussion and collaboration between the investigators on the ground and officers in the office. Lag in responsiveness on sharing of such information among investigators, is a thing of the past once this system is ready by September this year.

Similarly, it was found that officers must have a flair for investigative work and possess good communication skills in addition to engineering knowledge, analytical skills, and occupational safety and health expertise. Understanding

the difficulties on the ground, and scope of work which is different for each case also necessitates co-operative teamwork from each of the officers in the investigation team.3

Moving forward

The Division has faced many challenges since its establishment and at the same time the officers have learned a lot from the many high profile cases. To enable the Division to move forward and respond quickly and effectively to accident cases in future, the following plans of actions have been identified:

(i) Enhancing exper t i se o f officers by the provision of broad-based opportunities to attend forensic engineering seminars, courses, and conferences whether locally or abroad on a regular basis;

(ii) Providing adequate resources-monetary, logis t ics , sof tware technology support and rapid-test investigation equipment;

(iii) Collaborating with experts from local higher institutions of higher learning and accredited testing laboratories;

(iv) Building and establishing technical rapport and links with external forensic engineering experts from overseas institutions;

(v) Allowing serving officers to attend post-graduate courses on fo rens ic eng inee r ing o r allied disciplines and tutored by experienced lecturers;

(vi) Establishing good rapport and liaisons with the other relevant

authorities like the Police or the Fire and Rescue Department;

(vii) Using validated software tools for investigative work to understand fully the mode and mechanism of an accident or event.

Conclusion

The Forens ic Eng ineer ing Division has achieved its primary objective as demonstrated from the number of high profile cases investigated and completed. The Division needs to anticipate new casework challenges in the years ahead, by having sound and practicable investigative framework in place.

Al though the road ahead looks tortuous, the experience obtained and the wisdom accrued, will able officers to undertake any occupat ional safety and health forensic investigation with confidence, credibility, and re-doubtable integrity.

Last but not least, the adoption of occupational safety and health forensics in accident cases can contribute to improvement in the standard of occupational safety and health compliance in workplaces and benefit workers, employers and the nation as a whole.

REFERENCES1. David W.Fowler and Joe J.King-Chair in Engineering. The University of Texas at Austin.Forensic Engineering: Detective Engineering.

2. RE Hester ad RM Harrison. Environmental Forensics.

3. Kenneth L. Carper. Forensic Engineering.

BEM

14 THE INGENIEUR

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By Ahmad Farhan Mohd Sadullah & Aimi binti Mohd. FahmiMalaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS)

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THE INGENIEUR 15

Safety And Health In Road Transportation

In the past, drivers were usually been singled out as the primary cause of accidents. However,

this has changed lately, as the safe system approach has put forward that not only drivers are to be blamed, but the entire system must play its role instead. After all, drivers are not driving in a vacuum. They require vehicles to drive and ride on, and the vehicles in turn require the infrastructure to cruise on. Each of these will also require many entities behind them to make it work as safe system, such as design, operation, construction, legal framework and others. It is therefore fitting that the road transportation system be governed by a safety system, and the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) Code of Practice is one such example.

There was an increase of 25.35 % in accidents involving commercial vehicles, with crashes involving buses increasing by 131.25% in Malaysia from 2000 to 2005 (AH, Zulkipli, Othman, & Sarani, 2007). The frequency of high prof i le accidents of commercial vehicles involving mult iple deaths has become a grave concern. The crash investigations carried out by the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) have discovered that crashes involving commercial vehicles need to be addressed via the system approach, addressing the vehicle’s owner as a whole and not only micro-managing each individual cause only.

The principles in Safety, Health and Environment management system are obvious when it comes

The Occupational Safety and Health regulations are seldom associated with the road transport industry. As a result, the road transport industry in Malaysia has been the subject of many scrutinies with regards to the safety of its operation. Any crash involving commercial vehicles will catch the attention of the public, and analysis has shown that there are many flaws governing the safety standards of the road transport industry. Inspired by the more stringent requirement for safety in the air and maritime sector, the Safety, Health and the Environment (SHE) Code of Practice (COP) was introduced in 2007. This paper provides highlights of the SHE COP content as well as the lessons learnt from its implementation.

to the commitment of upper management, driver management and also vehicle maintenance. The enactment for safety in working environment as outlined in the Occupational Safety and Health 1994 Act (OSHA) Regulation already exists, but has never been implemented and tailored to the transportation sector. OSHA is not only an Act that makes provisions for securing the safety, health and welfare of the person at work, but also protects others against risks to safety or health in connection with the activities of the person at work.

R o a d t r a f f i c a c c i d e n t s involving commercial vehicles will undoubtedly affect third party victims which are passengers and/or drivers of other vehicles. Seeing this as urgent, a group of Government agencies and some from the private sector, in a concerted effort, started to work on the Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) Code of Practice (COP) for the Transportation Sector in 2007.

The target group of the COP are all the employers and the employees of the transportation industry. The intention of SHE COP is to improve fleet management in Malaysia, ensuring safety and decreasing the number of accidents and fatalities. The SHE COP’s specific objectives serve as a guideline to employers and employees regarding the correct and effective methods of handling matters pertaining to the safety and health of employees, to educate and create awareness about safety and health at the workplace and also to ensure that the public is not exposed to accidents and/or risks due to the practice of the industry.

S ince i t s in t roduc t ion in 2007, SHE COP has only been

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16 THE INGENIEUR

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implemented either on a voluntary basis or as a punitive measure following inquiries and litigation. This is under the custody of the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (LPKP). The implementation of SHE COP can be considered as a success as the number of accidents involving lorries and buses have seen a steady decrease beginning in 2007 (PDRM) as illustrated by Figure 1.

The implementation of SHE COP consists of five elements of management responsibili ty towards SHE which are policy, o r gan i s a t i on , p l ann ing and implementation, evaluation and action for improvement. These five elements are essential in ensuring the continual improvement of the implementation of SHE COP and shown in Figure 2. As a system approach, SHE COP aspires to have transport companies responsible towards the safety of their service for both workers and customers. SHE COP is mindful that all its aspirations must not be lip or document-service only, but must cascade down to the service levels, where the safety of the service is going to be experienced by passengers. Under the Continual Quality

Improvement (CQI) process, the entire SHE culture must include a performance-based evaluation, an internal audit as well as an external audit system.

Th e S t a n d a r d O p e r a t i n g P r o c e d u r e ( S O P ) i n t h e implementat ion of SHE COP consists of four main elements which are driver management, vehicle management, risk and t ravel management and also

quality assurance system (QAS) through document management. Table 2 provides details of SOP in SHE COP (AH, Zulkipli, Othman, & Sarani, 2007).

It is clear that if all transport companies heed the principles behind SHE COP, many tragic crashes involving commercial vehicles like lorries and buses can be avoided. When companies see safety as “good business sense” and “a social responsibility”, we may achieve our aim of “zero fatality”, at least amongst commercial vehicles.

F r o m t h e m a n y c r a s h invest igations carried out by MIROS, many contributing factors to crashes can be avoided had the companies heeded and made SHE COP a culture and practice in the i r compan ies . Many crashes were associated with the issue of driver management. The recruitment policy to ensure suitable, competent and legal drivers will address the issues associated with the quality and

Figure 1 Accidents Involving Lorries and Buses

Figure 2 Main Elements of SHE COP

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THE INGENIEUR 17

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BEM

the discipline of drivers. Another issue commonly associated with crashes involving commercial vehicles are the “road-worthiness” o r “ c r a s h - w o r t h i n e s s ” o f commercial vehicles. Issues of structural integrity, strong seat anchorage points, condition of brakes and tyres may be easily tackled with the implementation of SHE COP.

Presently, the commitment towards safety is primarily from the exterior, i.e through legal means. However, if companies do not see safety in the light of what

we aspire, there are many and usual means to “trick” the system. It is therefore imperative that SHE COP transform the prevailing attitude towards safety towards “self-enforcement”, backed by “good business sense”.

SHE COP for the Transportation Sec tor has now been taken under the guardianship of the Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) under the Min i s t ry o f Human Resources . The Tataamalan Industri Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan bagi Aktiviti Pengangkutan Jalan is

currently being drafted by DOSH and i t s implementa t ion and enforcement will be more holistic in approach and governed by the more appropriate OSHA 1994.

REFERENCES

AH, K., Zulkipli, Z., Othman, I., & Sarani, R. (2007). Kod Amalan Keselamatan, Kesihatan dan Persekitaran untuk sektor pengangkutan.

PDRM.

Table 2 Standard Operating Procedures of SHE COP

Stan

dard

Ope

rati

ng P

roce

dure

(SO

P)

Key Elements Sub-elements

Driver Management

● Driver hiring procedure ● Driver categorization ● Training & mindset change ● Driving procedure (journey) ● Driving hours & working hours ● Driver scheduling ● Reward & penalty

Vehicle Management

● Vehicle acquisition ● Checklist on turn on/off engine ● Seatbelt for drivers & passengers (bus & lorry) ● Display vehicle license ● Fuel fill-up procedure ● Vehicle usage● Service & maintenance ● Replacement & disposal of vehicle ● Specific driver for specific vehicles

Risk & Journey Management

● Management of passengers & goods ● Risk & hazard identification ● Journey risk management ● Emergency response ● Insurance coverage ● Personal accident coverage (PA)

QAS through Document Management

● Incident/Accident Report System● Management of complaints & concerns● SHE training & competency● Management of contractors● Driver Management Records● Vehicle Management Records● Risk & Journey Management Records● Surveillance System – logbook/blackbox/GPS/tachograph ● Self-evaluation

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By Ir M RamuserenSenior Manager, Standard & Quality Division, CIDB

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Safety and Health Assessment System in Construction or SHASSIC is an independent method to assess and evaluate the safety and

health performance of a contractor in construction works/ projects. SHASSIC was developed by a Technical Committee comprising industry stakeholders. It was published as Construction Industry Standard or CIS 10:2008 in November 2008.

SHASSIC Objectives

SHASSIC was designed and developed to enable the user to achieve any or combination of the following objectives:

● Benchmark the level of safety and health performance of construction industry in Malaysia;● Have a standard system on safety and health assessment in the construction industry;● Assess safety and health performance of contractor(s) based on this standard;● Evaluate the performance of contractor(s) on the safety and health practices at site;● Improve and take necessary corrective action on OSH performance and management at site; and● Compile data for statistical analysis.

Use Of SHASSIC In Construction Activities

SHASSIC is intended to complement the normal contractual requirement and specification in a project. It is not intended to be used independently as working requirement and specification. Unless specified in the project contract, safety and health designated person should not use SHASSIC to decide if the project site or parts of the project site are in accordance with requirement of the relevant Acts and Regulations or OSH Management System. It is still the responsibility of the contractor to ensure that

safety and health of construction site conforms to legislations requirement, approved standards, code of practice, guidelines, specifications and contractual requirements.

Preferably, the assessment shall be carried out when there are different type of activities going on at same time (concurrent activities) and many workers of different trades are involved at the site. It is recommended that SHASSIC assessment be carried out when physical work progress is between 25% and 75%.

Scope Of SHASSIC

SHASSIC sets out the safety and health management and practices of contractors for various aspects of the construction work activities. SHASSIC covers three main components of assessment such as document check, site/workplace inspection and employees’ interview covering components such as OSH policy, OSH organisation, HIRARC, OSH training and promotion, machinery and equipment management, materials management, emergency preparedness, accident investigation and reporting, records management and performance monitoring.

Application shall cover COSH management system and practices during construction work activities, particularly work activities covered under Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994, Factories and Machinery Act, 1967 and regulations made under this Act such as Factories and Machinery (Building Operations and Works of Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations 1986, and Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations, 1970.

For the purpose of terms and references, the following Acts, Regulations and OHS management system standards shall take precedence, Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1994 (Act 514) and Regulations, Factories and Machinery Act, 1967 (Act 139) and

18 THE INGENIEUR

SHASSICSafety And Health Assessment System In Construction

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Regulations and Rules, OHSAS 18001: 2007, MS 1722: 2005 and ILO OHS MS: 2001.

SHASSIC Assessment

Basically, SHASSIC assessment is divided into three different components namely, document check; work site inspection and employee interview.

1. Document checkChecking of OSH-rela ted documents and

records will enable the assessor to determine the compliances of the establishment of safety and health programmes and activities. There are 63 questionnaires identified for this component check.

2. Site/workplace inspectionThere are 62 items identified for inspection for

this component. Workplace inspection shall be carried out at five high risk areas within a site. These locations will be determined by the SHASSIC assessor. The assessor may also discuss with the principal contractor prior to selection of these high risk areas for assessment.

This assessment shall provide the assessor with the valuable visual comparison evidence on the OSH programmes implemented, enforced and practiced at site/workplace.

3. Employee’s interviewEmployees shall be randomly selected from

all levels and occupation so that they could be interviewed by the assessor using established standard questionnaire. There are 48 questions for this component.

The employees in this component are categorised into three categories, as spelt out in Annex C. The number of employees from each category to be interviewed are as follows:

Category ‘A’ – One employee from management personnel,

Category ‘B’ – Three employees from safety and health personnel or OSH Committee members and/or combination of both; and

Category ‘C’ – Ten workers from various trades/skills.

Weightage & Score

The weightage for safety and health performance are allocated in accordance to three components as shown in Table 1 and the score calculation is shown below.

Table 1. Allocation of weightage for componentsComponents Weightage (%)

Document check 40

Workplace inspection 40

Employee interview 20

Total score 100

The weightage system is aimed at making the score quantitative in representing the safety and health performance of the respective contractor.

Basic formulas for respective component weightage are as follows:

● Document Check

Total Number ‘C’ Scored X 40 % = SHASSIC score for Document Check - (A) (63 – Number of ‘NA’)

● Workplace Inspection

Total Number ‘C’ Scored X 40 % = SHASSIC score for Workplace Inspection - (B) (310 – Number of ‘NA’)

● Employees Interview

Total Number ‘C’ Scored X 20 % = SHASSIC score for Employees Interview - (C) (330 – Number of ‘NA’)

where,

C is the total number of “Compliance”NA is the total number of item that is “Not Applicable”.

The total SHASSIC score in Document Check (A) plus (+) total SHASSIC score in Workplace Inspection (B) plus (+) the total SHASSIC score in Employees Interview (C) components shall justify the ranking star or stars. Stars awarded range from 1 star to 5 stars as per Table 2.

THE INGENIEUR 19

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Who Can Be A SHASSIC Assessor?

A SHASSIC Assessor must be a person who is qualified and have certain years of working experience in construction industry. A SHASSIC Assessor shall fulfil one of the following criteria below.

● Has successfully attended and passed one day course organised by CIDB and has a minimum of five years working experience in the construction industry; or● Has successfully attended and passed OHSAS 18001 Lead Auditor Course and has a minimum of three years working experience in the construction industry (construction site). (Exempted from attending one-day course conducted by CIDB); or● A Construction Safety and Health Officer (CSHO*) with two years experience in the construction industry. (Exempted from attending one-day course conducted by CIDB)

Note: CSHO means a person who is registered with DOSH as Safety & Health Officer and attended 5 five-day course organised by CIDB for Construction Safety & Health Officer.

Contractors may engage any qualified person above to carry out SHASSIC assessment or alternatively they can make arrangement with CIDB to carry out SHASSIC assessment. Currently CIDB is providing this service Free of Charge (FOC). Contractors just need to fill in a FORM which is available at Standard & Quality Division, 10th Floor,

Grand Seasons Avenue, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur and fax it to 03 – 40451808. That’s all, so simple! CIDB officers will contact the contractor and will make arrangement for SHASSIC assessment.

How Contractors Can Benefit From SHASSIC Assessment?

Some of the benefits that the contractor could expect after carrying out SHASSIC assessment are listed below :-

● Based on SHASSIC score, the contractor could identify ‘areas’ where they have failed or did not score high. Customise training or remedial measures could be arranged to improve safety and health management for these ‘areas’ ● A proper safety and health assessment system could be established at construction sites and would make it easier for authorities to inspect site as OSH system is already in place.● Guided checklists based on SHAASIC’s document will help the Safety and Health Officers to discharge their duties more effective and efficiently

CONCLUSION

SHASSIC was developed to assist everyone particularly the contractors, in managing safety and health at construction sites based on safety and health performance’s assessment. CIDB believes, by using the SHASSIC assessment system as a norm of practice at site, accidents can be prevented or minimized.

Table 2. Star Ranking SHASSIC (Score %) Star(s) Awarded Justification

85 to 100 ★★★★★ Potential and significant workplace high risks/ hazards are managed and documented.

70 to 84 ★★★★ Potential and significant workplace high risks/ hazards are managed and documented but there are few low risks work activities are neglected.

55 to 69 ★★★ Potential and significant workplace high risks/ hazards are managed and documented but there are few medium risks work activities neglected.

40 to 54 ★★ Potential and significant workplace high risks/ hazards partly managed and not properly documented.

39 and less ★ Potential and significant risks/ hazards poorly managed and not properly documented.

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20 THE INGENIEUR

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The PAM Contract 2006 At A GlanceBy Ir. Harbans Singh K.S.P.E., C. Eng., Advocate and Solicitor (Non-Practicing)

engineering & law

The PAM (Pertubuhan Akitek Malaysia) standard forms of contract have been widely used by the local building industry over the last 40 years or so. These forms were published as PAM/ISM 1969 Forms; the label suggesting that they were also endorsed by The Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia. Over the years, much changes occurred in the building industry and the pertinent law but the said forms remained static without any updating.

In the mid-nineties, PAM undertook a complete revamp of the PAM/ISM 1969 Form which was replaced by the PAM 1998 Form. The PAM 1998 Form was extensively employed for the building industry in Malaysia but was subjected to much criticism by a segment of the said industry due to alleged deficiencies and shortcomings. The above necessitated a further review which culminated in the drafting and implementation of the latest revised form entitled “The PAM CONTRACT 2006”. The latter form has been officially launched and intended by PAM to replace the earlier PAM 1998 Form.

FORMS REVISED

The PAM 2006 family of forms of conditions of contract comprise the following individual forms that have been revised:

PREVIOUS FORM NEW FORM APPLICATION

The Malaysian Standard Form of Building Contract (PAM 1998 Form ‘With Quantities Edition’).

Agreement and Conditions of PAM Contract 2006 (With Quantities)

For Building Contracts based on Bills of Quantities (BQ)

The Malaysian Standard Form of Building Contract (PAM 1998 Form ‘Without Quantities Edition’)

Agreement and Conditions of PAM Contract 2006 (Without Quantities)

For Building Contracts based on Drawings and Specifications

Agreement and Conditions of Building Sub-Contract (PAM 1998 Sub-Contract Form)

Agreement and Conditions of PAM Sub-Contract 2006

For Nominated Sub-Contractors

It should be noted that the above forms are for contracts (or sub-contracts) employing the ‘traditional general contracting’ route of procurement and are only for building works. No such form has been drafted nor formulated for contracts procured along the ‘turnkey/design & build/design & construct/EPC’ method of procurement and/ or for ‘fee’ contracting.

NUMBER OF CLAUSES

With Quantities Edition

PREVIOUS FORM (PAM 1998) NEW FORM (PAM 2006) CHANGE (CLAUSES)

35 38 Additional 3 Clauses

THE INGENIEUR 21

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Without Quantities Edition

PREVIOUS FORM (PAM 1998) NEW FORM (PAM 2006) CHANGE (CLAUSES)

35 38 Additional 3 Clauses

Sub-Contract Form

PREVIOUS FORM (PAM 1998) NEW FORM (PAM 2006) CHANGE (CLAUSES)

23 33 Additional 10 Clauses

PRINCIPAL CHANGES

Although the general arrangement of the clauses as in the previous PAM 98 Form, has been maintained, both the format and content in the new forms have been appreciably altered. Some changes undertaken have brought the new form more in tandem with contemporary developments, although these are still relatively deficient in some material aspects. Definite time periods for the principal procedural matters have now been stipulated even for the architect and the employer. This will positively further good contract administration practice. The contractor’s and employer’s obligations and liabilities have been now set out in much clearer language and the roles and responsibilities of the Architect (and the quantity surveyor and the engineers) expanded and amplified.

Prima facie, as compared with the previous PAM 98 Form, in particular, the employer’s obligations and liabilities have been appreciably enhanced with its rights relatively reduced or “watered-down”. Consequently, in terms of risk allocation, there is a significant transfer of the risk involved in the contract to the employer as compared to the previous PAM 98 Form.

The end result of the above changes is that notwithstanding it being presumably intended to be a more “balanced” form in terms of risk allocation, in the context of the local building industry, it appears to be now so-called more “contractor friendly”. Furthermore, despite some improvements in style and formatting, the form is still cluttered with deficiencies, material omissions and provisions difficult to comprehend and implement by an average practitioner. Overall, for a standard form that has just undergone major revisions apparently to address the alleged shortcomings of the previous form and perhaps to make it a frontrunner for the local building industry, save for some welcome changes, it falls rather short of expectations. Consequently, it may need another major revamp depending on how it is accepted by all the main players in the industry, especially the employers who still remain the single most influential segment of the local building industry.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Despite the various changes undertaken, on an overall basis, the layout and design of the form is inadequate and confusing. Like provisions dealing with similar issues should have been collated and drafted consecutively e.g. provisions dealing with financial matters such as variations, payment, etc. should have been set out in close relation to each other instead of being all over the form. In the absence of being privy to the drafting philosophy, the form appears to be just a revision and reformulation of the previous PAM 98 Form with the layout being maintained but additions/amendments made on a “cut and paste” basis. It would have been more appropriate to undertake a wholesale revision and reformatting of the previous PAM 98 Form to bring it in tandem with other contemporary forms of conditions of contract.

The revisions undertaken have generally not taken into account contemporary developments in the industry e.g. the recommendations of documents such as the SCL Protocol on Delay and Disruption have not been given due consideration, etc.; thereby defeating the aim of the local industry being on par with international developments/practice. Furthermore, the predominant use of terms and expressions that are inherently vague or smacking of legalese will certainly contribute to lack of clarity, precision and thereby lead to possible disputes as to interpretation. Finally, it is submitted that the form could have been structured such that it would have given the parties especially the employer greater flexibility and more options in using the form; which being a standard form cannot fit into the varied uses that are likely to be encountered in practice.

22 THE INGENIEUR

engineering & law

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By Hashim DaudDirector (Marine and Water Division), Department of Environment Malaysia

These laws are largely sectoral in character and focused on specific areas of activity. The increasingly complex environmental problems faced by Malaysia required a comprehensive piece of legislation which came in the form of the 1974 Environmental Quality Act. The Act came into force on Apr 1, 1974 for the abatement and control of pollution and enhancement of the environment. Three pieces of subsidiary legislation were formed as an initial legislative approach to water quality management. These were:

( i ). Environmental Quali ty (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) Regulations 1977;

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pollution control and prevention of environmental degradation. A holistic approach is required to manage river water quality.

WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Legislation

Laws are used as a form o f management response to env i r onmen t a l p rob l ems i n Malaysia. Amongst the laws r e l e v a n t t o w a t e r q u a l i t y management are the 1929 Mining Enactment, the 1930 Waters Enactment, the 1954 Drainage Works Ordinance and the 1974 Street, Drainage and Building Act.

T he Na t iona l Po l i cy on Envi ronment s ta tes that the nation shall implement

env i ronmen ta l l y sound and sus ta inable development for t h e c o n t i n u o u s e c o n o m i c , social and cultural progress and enhancement of the quality of life of Malaysians. It is based on eight inter-related and mutually supporting principles and where water is concerned will include the sustainable use of water resources, conservat ion of a river’s vitality and diversity, and the continuous improvement of its water quality. The policy outlines the strategies and measures to be taken towards an effective management of water resources,

THE INGENIEUR 23

Legislative Approach To Water Quality Management In Malaysia – Success And Challenges

Water resources in Malaysia come in the forms of rivers, lakes and ground water. As long as we can remember, rivers have served as the sole source of water supply for our consumption in almost all parts of the country. Since achieving independence, the country has developed by leaps and bound from an agriculture-based society to an urbanised and industrialised nation. This shift and a rapidly growing population have both threatened rivers as a vital source of water supply. In addition, river water quality has deteriorated, making its availability for consumption much more difficult. The continual pollution of rivers will deplete this water resource even further and will have serious repercussions on the national agenda to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020 if essential steps are not taken to improve river water quality.

This paper describes the legislative approach to water quality management in the country, and its success and challenges.

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24 THE INGENIEUR

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( ii ). Environmental Quali ty (Prescribed Premises) (Raw Natural Rubber) Regulations 1978; and( iii ). Environmental Quali ty (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979.

Sources o f pol lu t ion that threatened our water environment have been subjected to these regulations since the 1970s. It is essentially a command and control approach utilising effluent discharge standards. The effluent discharge standard was made much stricter for pollution sources upstream of public water supply intakes than those of downstream of such intakes.

In addition to making use of these laws to control pollution, additional legislation is also in place to effect prevention of pollution into a river or water body. A thi rd mechanism involves a continuous assessment or monitoring of all the rivers in the country to ascertain the improvement or otherwise of our river water quality.

Prevention

The legislative approach in water quality management effected by the 1974 Environmental Quality Act makes use of Section 34A where a report on impact on the environment resulting from prescribed activities (EIA requirement) is mandatory. Among the prescribed activities or projects that can cause water pollution include airport, housing, industry, mining, petroleum, power generation, resort and recreational development, and waste treatment and disposal facilities.

For non-prescribed activities, site suitability evaluation would also be carried out so as to assess the capacity of the area to receive

additional pollution load and the requirement for waste disposal.

The Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979 also require that written permission be obtained before the construction of any building or carrying out any work that may result in a new source of effluent or discharge.

Water Pollution Sources and Control

Malaysian rivers are degraded by both point and non-point sources of pollution. The major point sources of pollution are sewage treatment plants, agro-based industries, manufacturing industries, sullage or grey-water from commercial and residential premises, and pig farms. Non-point source (or diffuse) pollution is largely due to storm runoff after a downpour. Earthworks and land clearing activities contribute to siltation of rivers and can be both point and non-point sources of pollution.

● Agro-based industries

The ear ly year s o f pos t -independence saw a proliferation of agro-based industries such as raw natural rubber factories and palm oil mills which polluted our rivers. The control of pollution from these sources involved a combination of both economic and command-control instruments which has proven to be very successful. These industries did not only invest in pollution control

research and development but also made great efforts to comply as rapidly as possible with the stipulated effluent-discharge or land-disposal standards. They were induced to install effective wastewater treatment systems instead of paying the prohibitive effluent-related or pollution fees imposed under the l icensing requirements that came into force in 1977. The organic pollutant load dumped into rivers has been greatly reduced by more than 90% of the total load generated.

● Manufacturing industries

A new set of environmental problems has emerged as the nation progressed in its industrial development. In addition to organic pollutants, manufacturing industries generate inorganic pollutants, toxic wastes and persistent organic pollutants. All manufacturing industries are required to install wastewater treatment systems to arrest their water pollutants before they are dumped into rivers. The achievement in controlling effluent discharges from these manufacturing industries varies from industry to industry. The small- and medium-scale industries have difficulties in complying with discharge standards. Constraints cited include financial problems and lack of space for the construction of wastewater treatment facilities.

The manufacturing industries are encouraged to implement alternative options such as cleaner production, waste minimisation and waste re-utilisation in order

Rubber factory

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to reduce water pollution further. Such options could also enhance production eff iciency, reduce waste generation and thereby its final disposal cost. They are also encouraged to adopt the approach of self-regulation and strive for ISO 14001 Certification not only to ensure compliance with discharge standards but also to attain competitiveness in the global arena.

Efforts are also being stepped up to eliminate indiscriminate disposal of toxic wastes and uncontrolled release of persis tent organic pollutants. The management of toxic wastes is based on the cradle-to-grave concept. There are laws in place to control their generation, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal. An integrated state-of-the-art treatment and disposal facility has been set up and is in full operation since August 1998 to assist the manufacturing industries in the proper management of their toxic wastes.

● Sewage Disposal and Sewerage Works

Sewage is a major polluter of our rivers. This is a problem of the past centuries that continues to plague the nation as it enters the 21st century. Initial efforts to control sewage are very much focused on protecting public health but there is now a gradual shift to protect water resources and the natural environment. A private company has been tasked

to manage sewerage works and sewage disposal in the country since 1994 but currently it is only responsible for 86 out of 144 local authority areas. The management of sewerage in these 86 areas is far from holistic since there are sources that do not come under the company such as private sewage treatment plants, individual septic tanks, sewage from primitive systems and discharges of raw sewage from squatters. There are still a lot of efforts required and measures needed to reduce the sewage pollutant loads so that river water quality can be improved.

● Sullage (Grey-Water)

An important source of point pollution is sullage or grey-water which originates from residential and commercial premises but is often overlooked. The wastewater can come from places such as kitchen sinks, bathrooms, washing machines, restaurants, wet markets and car washing centres. As rivers pass through urban areas and populated places, the sullage will become a major contributor to water pollution. Usually a stream in an urban area does not have enough assimilative capacity to absorb pollutant loads and will contribute organic pollutants, ammoniacal nitrogen and nutrients to a river nearby. At present,

sullage is not treated and poses a problem to improving river water quality.

● Pig Farming

Pig farming cannot continue to be a backyard industry if it is to flourish in the country. This industry has a high demand for water and discharges large quantities of wastewater with high organic content into the rivers. Designated pig farming areas are required not only to ensure a proper control of its wastewater discharges but also for disease control.

Non-Point Pollution And Its Control

Non-point pollution is pollution that comes from many diffuse sources and is associated with rainfall moving over and through the ground. As it moves, the runoff picks up and carries away natural and man-made pollutants and deposits them into lakes, rivers and even ground water. This runoff pollution can come from many different land uses covering large areas and is far more difficult to control than pollution from point sources. One of the best ways to control this pollution is to implement best management practices.

There are at least three types of runoff pollution in the country. Firstly, agricultural runoff that carries pollutants that originate from activities such as pesticide spraying, ferti l ising, planting, harvesting, feedlots, cropland, grazing, plowing and irrigation. The runoff will deposit manure, fertilisers, ammonia, pesticides, livestock waste, oil, toxins, soil and sediment. Good agricultural practices are required to manage

THE INGENIEUR 25

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Construction site

Car washing centre

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these activities so that runoff pollutants are minimised.

Second ly, f o re s t r y runo f f associated with activities such as timber harvesting, removal of streamside vegetation, road construction and use in forested areas, and mechanical preparation for tree planting. Good forestry practices are required to minimise s o i l e r o s i o n a n d s i l t a t i o n , destabilisation of stream banks and disruption of river habitats.

Thirdly, urban runoff that will deposit many and high amount of pollutants into rivers and other water bodies. Some of the measures that can be implemented include installing storm water filter to treat drainage and runoff, construction of gross pollutant traps at appropriate places, maintaining vegetation as filters along contours, and constructing wetlands wherever feasible as a good re-vegetation practice to improve river water quality.

The cont ro l o f non-poin t pollution is far from satisfactory but the problem is not unique to this country. Its control is also a major challenge in other parts of the world including the US and countries in Europe.

Erosion and Siltation Control

In the pursuit of national development, the country has embarked on rigorous land clearing activi t ies and earthworks for construction purposes. These have resulted in soil erosion and the dumping of sediments into rivers. Significant negative impacts on the rivers have occurred not only in the form of siltation but also the loss of river habitats. It is necessary to impose control measures on developers to comply with the ‘Erosion of Soil and Control

Plan’ made by the Drainage and Irrigation Department and the ‘Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Soil Erosion and Siltation’ issued by the Department of Environment (DOE).

RIVER QUALITY MONITORING

The DOE has established a river monitoring network since 1978 to ascertain the status of river water quality, detect changes in the water quality and, wherever possible, to identify the pollution sources of rivers. It also serves to support environmental management and planning in the country. There are 1,085 water quality monitoring stations sited within 140 river basins throughout the nation. The monitoring programme includes both the in-situ measurements and laboratory analyses of as many as 30 physico-chemical and biological parameters. In addition, 15 automatic water quality monitoring stations are installed to detect changes in river

water quality on a continuous basis at strategic locations in major river basins. Water quality levels for specific parameters can be transmitted real-time to the DOE.

Between 1998 and 2005, the number of clean rivers has risen from 33 to 80 while polluted rivers remained between nine and 16 (see Figure 1). Over the same period, the number of polluted rivers, as measured in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) ranged between 14 and 31 rivers (Figure 2). This organic pollutant originated from agro-based industries, manufacturing industries, sullage, pig farms and sewage. The estimated BOD loads from agro-based industries, manufacturing industries and pig farms were dwarfed by the BOD loads from sewage (Figure 3). This suggests that while industries and pig farms are the major polluters, sewage, nevertheless, remains as a significant polluter whose loading need to be reduced drastically.

26 THE INGENIEUR

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THE INGENIEUR 27

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discharge standards and there is a necessity to review these standards to be in line with current acceptable international standards and availabil i ty of t reatment technology.

Some State Governments are requiring palm oil mills to comply with much str icter discharge standards than those imposed by the Federal Government.

CONCLUSION

The legislative approach in water quality management using the 1974 Environmental Quality Act has been successful in reducing pollution to a certain extent. It has involved pollution control, prevent ion of pol lu t ion and continuous assessment (monitoring) of the river environment. There are still many challenges that need to be addressed to achieve holistic water quality management. Most of the past and present efforts are very much directed at controlling pollution from point sources while non-point pollution has continued unabated. The necessary technical, institutional and legal arrangements are also necessary to treat sullage (grey-water) adequately before it is discharged into rivers. The nation will continue to use water from its rivers for many years to come and it is imperative for the authorities to reduce pollutant loads and improve river water quality on a sustainable basis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The author would like to express his gratitude to Mohd Rosiskada, Noor Azme and Rosmiza for their assistance in the preparation of this paper. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Department of Environment.

capacity of a river or water body. For better protection, there is a need to develop river or stream standards, and for effluent discharge standards to be set accordingly in order to comply with these river or stream standards.

A number of sources are not able to comply with existing

CHALLENGES

In addition to the challenges outlined earlier, there are a number of other challenges that need to be given consideration. The uniform discharge standard is applicable throughout the country and does not take into account the assimilative

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By Mohd Shahwahid H.O, Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia & Poh Lye Yong, Forestry Department Headquarters, Peninsular Malaysia

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28 THE INGENIEUR

Economic Value Of Wild Bees In Honey Collection From The Forest

In Malaysia, owing to the rising awareness of the importance of non-timber value (NTV), some State Governments are willing to set aside some portions

of the forest for protective purposes. This implies that forests which until a few years ago, valued for their timber, are suddenly more valuable as intact forests. Now, there is a realization that in some tracts of forest, the value of timber revenues cannot match the summation of the costs of externalities arising from logging and the loss of NTV.

In specific cases, the role of NTV may be grossly under-valued, so much so that the benefits from NTV are ignored and not valued. There exist methodologies to estimate the value of these NTV and the costs of the externalities from logging operations. In Malaysia, valuing of NTV had been attempted by Ahmad et al. (1990), Cheng (1994), Jamal (1997) and Mohd Shahwahid and Nik Mustapha (1991), Nik Mustapha (1993) and Mohd Shahwahid and Awang (1999). It is noted that economic evaluation techniques are still evolving and many methodologies deemed acceptable previously are now proven inadequate and being improved.

There are three categories of NTV namely; extractive, non-extractive, and preservation. A complete valuation of NTV requires estimating the values for all the cells as shown in Table 1. Some of these are easier to estimate than others. According to Lampietti and Dixon (1995), five characteristics make valuing NTV difficult: (i) there is inadequate information about their price and quantity; (ii)

they can be non-excludable; (iii) their biological dimensions are poorly understood; (iv) they require an extended planning horizon, and (v) they are joint products.

How these three categories of NTVs rate with respect to the above characteristics influences the degree of difficulty in their valuation. Extractive values are easiest to measure because they represent tangible goods, like rattans and honey, that are harvested from the forest and may be sold in local markets. Non-extractive values are harder to measure because they represent somewhat intangible services, like water flow regulation and recreation for which prices are usually unavailable. Preservation values are hardest to measure because they are intangibles, which neither quantities nor prices exist. It can only

The residual technique was used to measure the economic value of wild bees in honey production. The value of wild bees in the forest is influenced by the market price of honey, weight of honey that can be potentially extracted, number of hives available per tree and the profit margin assigned by the wild honey collectors. These data were obtained from a survey of 12 wild honey collectors in the state of Pahang. Results from the study showed that the value of wild bees in honey production was RM24.90 per hive.

Extractive Values Non-Extractive Values Preservation Values

Rattan extraction Recreation Option

Bamboo extraction Aesthetic Existence

Hunting and fishing Watershed effects

Honey gathering Nutrient Cycling

Other minor forest products

Natural Hazard Control Carbon sequestration

Source: Lampietti and Dixon (1995)

Table 1 : Component of non-timber values of tropical forest

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THE INGENIEUR 29

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be measured with survey-based questionnaires that describe hypothetical markets.

This paper attempts to appraise the value of wild bees in the production of honey available from hives build on selected forest trees. This economic value is based on an extractive good in the forests.

BASIC MODEL

The value of wild bees in honey production is basically the value of the available stock of honey that can be extracted from bee hives. In this study, the residual value approach is adopted. This approach is a direct application of derived demand: all costs other than that of the wild bees are subtracted from the market price of the product. Firstly, the approach required determining the selling price of the product or products potentially extracted from the bee hives.

The product that has a market price is honey, that is based on the price delivered to the middleman. By subtracting all costs from the product’s final sales price – from extracting to transporting, and further deduction for whatever amount deemed necessary to pay to the entrepreneur wild honey collector for his or her contribution, one derived the residual value. This residual value is the economic rent or value of the wild bees in its function for the production of honey. Hence, this rent can be allocated as the value of the returns to the resource owner, that is, the Forestry Department, custodian of the forest.

COMPUTATION PROCEDURE

Valuation of wild bees in honey production require two basic sets of information: (i) prices and costs, and (ii) potential quantities of honey extracted from bee hives found on selected trees in the forest. The formula for calculating the value of wild bees in honey production, adapted from the formula for stumpage timber value of Davis (1977), and Mohd Shahwahid and Awang Nor (1999) is given below:

k V = ∑ Qj { HPj - (ADC + APMj ) }(1) j = 1

where

V = value of wild bees in honey production per tree with hives HPj = market price of honey and related products j Qj = quantity (kg) of honey and related products j which is estimated to be equal to Qj = (m sj Ci) (2)

where

m I = proportion of bee hives bearing honey

sj = number of bee hives that can be potentially harvested for honey and related product j Ci = number of trees with bee hives in the forest reserve ADC = average direct collecting, transporting and processing cost of honey (not inclusive of collector’s equitable profit margin) APMj = equitable profit margin allocated to the collector for harvesting honey and related products j, which is equal to

APMj = (πHPj)/(1 π)(3)

where

π = average Malaysian industrial profit margin in percent but adjusted to reflect the risk undertaken by the wild honey collector. In this analysis a π of 30% is used which is considered quite representative for this industry in general.

From the above equations, the variations in the value of bee colonies within a tract of forest will be influenced by the productivity of bee hives; prices of honey and related products; and costs of collection, transportation and processing.

Harvested honey comb with honey

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STUDY SITE

Various data are needed to compute the value of wild bees in honey production. This included the number of hives per tree, proportion of honey-bearing hives, yield per honey-bearing hive, ex-middleman prices of bottled honey, costs of collecting wild honey, transportation and packing, and a fair profit margin for the wild honey collectors. To obtain these data, field surveys of wild honey collectors are conducted. Analysis is conducted on 12 respondents in three forest areas (see Table 2) located in the state of Pahang. Although 15 collectors were interviewed, three cannot be used for the analysis as the information required was inadequate.

Table 2 : Location of samples by forest districts in PahangForest areas

Forest district

No. of samples

Comments

Bera Temerloh 4 Natural forest

Kemasul Temerloh 3 Natural forest and Acacia forest plantation

Jerantut Jerantut 5 Natural forest

Since there is no population list of wild honey collectors in the country, the selection of sample is based on snowball non-probability sampling. Forest District Offices are contacted to enquire whether field staff are aware of any wild honey collectors. A survey of one honey collector leads to the identification of another in the district.

RESULTS

Table 3 shows the average revenue from wild honey collection and the economic value of wild honey bees in the forest. Higher average revenues of RM74.67 per hive and RM 86.63 per hive from honey production are obtained by collectors from the Bera and Kemasul Forest Reserves respectively. Average revenue from the Jerantut Forest Reserve is less than half the amount obtained by the collectors from the earlier two forest reserves.

Various reasons can be attributed to the variation in revenues per hive from the forest trees. One possible reason is the number of bee hives available per tree and the number of trees available. Another factor is the influence of the marketing channel adopted by the collectors. Collectors selling direct to consumers at farmers’ market and by the roadside stalls obtained higher honey prices as compared to those selling to middlemen. The higher prices obtained in the earlier marketing channel is the higher risk involved. Business may not be forthcoming and extra marketing effort is needed.

Harvesting the part containing honey

Average Forest Reserve Overall

Bera Kemasul Jerantut Average

RM / hive (%) RM / hive (%) RM / hive (%) RM / hive (%)

Direct Production Cost 2.01 2.70 8.67 10.01 8.62 29.10 6.43 10.92

Wages* 9.77 13.09 24.09 27.81 8.52 28.76 12.83 21.79

Production Cost 11.79 15.79 32.76 37.82 17.15 57.86 19.26 32.71

Profit Margin+ 18.67 25.00 21.66 25.00 7.41 25.00 14.72 25.00

Value of Wild Bees 44.21 59.21 32.21 37.18 5.08 17.14 24.90 42.29

Revenue 74.67 100.00 86.63 100.00 29.63 100.00 58.89 100.00

* = imputed wages of collection crew+ = imputed profit margin 25%

Table 3 : Average revenue from honey collection & economic value of wild honey bees

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The breakdown of the average revenue per hive suggested that direct production cost is small (10.92%). If imputed wages of the collecting crew are included, it raised the production cost to 32.71% of the average revenue per hive. Allowing a 25% normal profit margin for entrepreneurial efforts by collectors, a residual value of RM 24.90 per hive is obtained. This value is allocated as the economic rent of wild bees in honey production. Overall, the economic rent represented 42.29% of the revenue generated from honey production. This high proportion allocated as the economic rent is due to the low usage of capital since the honey and honey comb in the hives are self-produced by the bees without any human effort to culture the honey involved.

The above average revenue varied among the forest reserves. This occurred due to variations in the direct cost, particularly, the imputed wages and number of honey collection crew, distance to the forest trees with bee hives, and selling price of honey. This explains why Bera and Kemasul Forest Reserves proportionally have higher proportion of the component of wild bee economic value and smaller compositions of direct production cost and imputed wages and profit to the collection crew.

Table 3 provides information on the average revenue per hive and the economic value of wild bees in honey production on a per unit hive basis. To obtain the total economic value of wild bees in honey production involve the overall computation during a collecting trip at the forest site. The list of the forest reserves and their associated calculated economic value of wild bee colonies for the production of honey vis-à-vis the total revenue is provided in Table 4.

Bee colonies from forest reserves have a higher number of hives per tree and the number of trees with bee colonies. This is unlike the case in the Kemasul Forest Plantation, where despite the higher rent, it has fewer hives per Acacia tree. Wild bees tend to build a higher number of hives in taller trees with many perpendicular branches which are more readily available in the natural forest than in forest plantation. The honey yield per hive is also higher in natural forest trees. Hence, the total economic value for the Kemasul Forest Plantation is lower.

The economic value of wild bees in honey production vary between collection in natural forest and plantation forest. The economic values

are higher for collection activit ies from the natural forest as compared to forest plantation if the economic value per hive is equally high. But because the value per hive in Jerantut Forest Reserve is very low, the distinction between natural and forest plantation is not seen.

A regression between economic value of wild honey bees with several influencing factors suggested that only direct cost, yield, prices of honey and imputed wages are statistically significant factors. Equation 1 below provides the full econometric diagnostic of the economic value function. This function is also useful for the projection of the economic value of wild bees in respect to honey production. The estimated function is relatively a good fit with an adjusted R2 of 56.6% and a F test that is statistically significant at 5% significant level. The function showed that the economic value of wild honey bees is positively influenced by the number of hives available and the price of honey but negatively dependent on the number of collecting team members at 5% level of significance.

Table 4 : Total economic value of wild honey bees in honey production (RM)

Average Forest Reserve Overall

Bera Kemasul Jerantut Average

Economic Rent / hive

44.21 32.21 5.08 24.90

Average no. of hives / tree

6.00 2.67 5.00 4.56

Average value of wild bees / tree

265.26 86.01 25.40 113.54

Average number of trees / collector team

1.25 1.00 2.00 1.50

Number of collecting team / forest area

4 3 5 4

Average value of wild bees

1,326.30 258.03 254.00 681.24

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where

Value = economic value of wild honey bees (RM/trip)

Hive = number of hives per trip (hive/trip)Yield = weight of honey harvested per trip

(kg/trip)Crew = number of collecting team membersPrice = price of honey (RM/kg)Figures in bracket are the t statisticsAdjusted R2 is the adjusted coefficient of multiple determinationF is the F statistic**, * are indications of statistical significance at the 1% and 5% levels of significance.

Apart from the use of this function to show the partial relationship between the economic value of honey bees with each of the following variables: number of hives, price of honey and the number of team crews, other factors remain unchanged. This function is also useful for projecting the economic value of wild bees with respect to honey production.

CONCLUSION AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

This paper contributed several interesting findings. Firstly, it had demonstrated a simple method to put values on the role of wild bees in honey production in the forest. The economic value of wild bees is higher in natural forest than in forest plantation. Secondly, the value of bees constituted a large proportion of the revenue from honey production since direct production cost incurred by collectors are minimal given that the true work of gathering nectar and processing them into honey is naturally done by the bees. The other cost elements deducted from the revenue are imputed wages of the honey collecting crew. Thirdly, given that the essential role played by wild bees is considered useful information for biodiversity conservation, it can be included into the total economic values of forests. Fourthly, the average total economic value of wild honey collection per tree (or price of honey that can be potentially harvested from the forest trees) has been obtained. This latter information is especially useful to State

Government regulators in setting appropriate user fees for the extraction of wild honey.

The first three sets of information are potentially useful for biodiversity conservation of the forests. The ability to appraise the value of the role of wild bees in honey production suggests that other NTVs have a high probability of being valued as well. With the estimation of most of these NTV, there will be sufficient monetary-based information to help better decision making on forest land use.. With this information, it is possible to identify the trade-offs involved when forests are opened for timber harvesting or deforested. A more integrated management of land use should be implemented to avoid the loss of these NTV values. The timber harvesting system can be specified to take into account the multiple-use of the forest resources so as not to forego these NTV benefits.

The fourth piece of information is of potential value for policy makers and analysts, as well as the Government agency responsible for licensing the extraction of non-timber forest products. The economic value of potential wild honey available in the forests reflects the resource rent that can be collected by forest resource owners, possibly licensing wild honey collection. The resource rent is the return to resource owners, basically the State Government, the trustee of the forest.

A word of caution on the use of these economic values of honey bees should be in order. This valuation exercise is site-specific, particularly to the study locations. Its findings are not directly transferable to appraise wild honey bees in other locations, owing to the variations in bee hives and trees selected by the bees to build their hives, honey prices across the country, accessibility and the cost of extraction, transportation and processing. Further, applying the economic values to computing the total value of all harvestable honey over the whole state can be erroneous. This assumes that the supply of wild honey is infinitely elastic at these prices. Two problems are associated with this: (i) it contradicts an implicit assumption of the residual approach (infinitely inelastic supply); and (ii) the total market in a given area normally exhibits a downward-sloping demand curve with increasing quantity demanded in response to decreasing prices.

Value = - 318.1 + 43.2Hive + 45.5Yield– 45.3Crew + 7.5Price(1) (- 1.4) (3.7)**(1.4) (- 2.1)* (2.3)**

Adjusted R2 = 56.6%F = 4.6*

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By Raden Fadzilah A’ini Abdul Kadir Universiti Pertanian Malaysia)

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Good Animal Husbandry PracticesThe Good Animal Husbandry P r a c t i c e s ( G A H P / C o d e of Practice1) are nationally developed as a guide to the care and handling of different animal species. The codes contain recommended housing or abodes, transportation and management pract ices for animals. This code shall be used as an adjunct for professionals or testimony in reviewing the Animal Act 1953. This cannot by itself be used as compliance or prequisite to certain law or rule of operations. These GAHP are intended as an educational tool in the promotion of sound husbandry and welfare practices. When the word ‘must’ is used, it emphasizes the importance of a specific practice. The codes contain recommendations to ass is t owners, farmers, proprietors, traders and related agencies in this sector to compare and improve the management practice or licensing guidlines. Thus, in line with this, the animal husbandry industry is set to adhere to conditions laid down by the Department of Veterinary Services. The animal husbandry industry shall strut in the right key in tandem with the GAHP tune.

During these past decades, the growing affluence of Malays ian society has

sowed a tremendous increase in awareness of the need to provide animals with proper care and attention... Most owners have had no practical training in animal care and all too often receive dubious advice from fellow owners. This inculcates the need to enhance animal keeping/farming/ranching in the country. It is timely to amplify to the public; the positive angle of quality animal care. Throughout the world, animals are kept in a wide variety of situations. Many species or breeds exist; from the smallest ‘worm’ to the Gigantic Whale, where they were made to adapt to a broad

1 Codes of Practice is synonymous with Good Animal Husbandry Practices

Ranges of pets sizes and prices

range of environmental conditions. The Good Animal Husbandry Practice (GAHP) book endeavour’s therefore to define standards for the basic principles of animal management. The Department of Standard Malaysia through its arm, SIRIM Bhd. has awarded the STANDARD MALAYSIA Good Animal Husbandry Practice (GAHP) MS 2027:2006.

In the case of long cooped-up animals a conducive environment is needed. Thus owners or premise managers must provide the optimum environment to these species in confined areas. Concern for a

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sustainable and clean environment must be the primary adjunct in awarding licences in the future for such premises.

Why is the word ranch and not farming is used in the keeping of wildlife? This is self explainatory when farming is a form of captive breeding versus ranching where wild animals are reared in a control environment. A continuous interchange of gene pool promotes conservation of natural habitat by giving it added economic value.

2.0 GUIDELINES IN THE GOOD HUSBANDRY PRACTICES (GAHP) FOR ANIMALS

SALT encompasses the guiding principles of the GAHP {husbandry, environmental control, biosecurity and SPS measures (part of halal requirement)}. A well developed Code gives confidence to all parties that their interest are being protected. This echoes a well managed production system which ensures benefits to the environment. With better control of the production inputs, this system of mangement has the potential to customise good animal care all round.

Good Animal Husbandry Practice Book published

by the Department of Veterinary Services. Concept of “Ranching” of wildlife promotes sustainability of products and

animals in increasing the number of animals and maintains the gene pool

A conducive in-door environment for tropical birds ranched for sale in England

Ostriches in Malaysia

Exotic bird shop (England)Examples are deer, ostrich or birds.

Misunderstood Care

Inappropriate practice together with exorbitant veterinary or licensing fees should be a taboo in the local animal practice. In tangent with the issue is the misuse of drugs, example, beta-agonist, nitro-furan etc. There must be judicious management in the use and monitoring of drugs in animal care and feeding. Withdrawal period should be adhered to and monitored to prevent untoward incidences.

Gases generated from animal wastes such as ammonia, methane, sulpha dioxide contribute to the global greenhouse effect, and should be properly controlled. The owners of animal farms must be able to collect the droppings, feceas or guanos and treat the liquid waste effectively, so as not to contaminate the soil as well as the surface and underground water.

The storage of dir ty water containers could breed pathogens Humidifiers are recommended to avoid wastage, contamination and control water run-offs.

Pollution from animal keeping as in noise or smell can be reduced based on scientific research. For example, as in overcoming noise pollution in edible-nest Swiftlets premises was a colloborative effort of the Ministry of Housing and Local Goverment and The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, accordance to World Health Organisations limits.

Designing Animal Dwellings

To begin designing an animal dwell ing, an individual must consolidate knowledge of animal spec ies , b reeds , behaviours , p hy s i o l o g y ; s t a t u s , v i c e s , shortcomings, habits, diet, gender,

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demonstrating its commitment to provide inputs into for Government regulatory policy and at the same time remain economically viable.

Provision Of This Code

Very often, the enterprenuer or non-animal savy person interprates the comfort zone for noise, smell and others for animals from the human perspective. Thus, high standards of animal welfare are legally important, have direct economic benefit and ensure that the animal husbandry industry has a place in the international arena. The following ”freedoms” are recognized as criteria:

● f reedom from hunger and thirst● freedom from thermal and physical discomfort● freedom from pain, injury and disease● freedom from undue anxiety● freedom to display most normal patterns of behaviour

The recommendations in these Codes come from publications and literatures from a variety of international sources. As scientific and technological knowledge advances, management procedures wi l l evolve. Most developed countries are using these as a tool to ban imports from less developed nations. Below are environment friendly production houses for ‘animal production’. This is in line with world standards.

Disease Surveillance

For the purpose of achieving c o m p e t e t i v e n e s s i n t h e International Animal Trade. Animal disease surveillance, monitoring, control and eradication systems established are in line with the In te rna t iona l S tandards l a id down by the Organization of International Epizootic (OIE). As animal health status becomes a tool in determining conditions for animal trade, it of paramount importance for the country to adhere to quality animal health management standards. Alert-Threshold mechanism is a function that needs to be incorporated at every level. These are to rule

mating ratio, weights, strength, heights, production targets, land carrying capacity, climate, plants, material used, orientation and others. By taking all this into account can than an almost perfect shelter be built for one or group of animals. We know now that for birds’ a perch is a must as it is their natural instinct to perch upside-down or upright. Veterinarians are usually consulted on the matter above to ascertain the design. The comfort of the animal is in the perspective of the animal and not vice-versa.

Issues Accertained

A continuous scrutiny of ‘animal premises’ shall ensure that they are sustainable and driven abide by regulations. This is particularly so, where the urban encroachment and the `RIGHT ’ people feel they have to live in a pristine environment free from odour, noise and dropping contaminations. The challenge for the animal husbandry industry is to be proactive in

Humidifier to maintain humidity Volumes of birds call to bait edible-nest Swiftlets in animal premises

Modern multi-tier close-house chicken on wheels (mobile), with automated feeders and drinkers. The birds are ready for the market.

Arrow points to birds-nest premise where the façade harmonizes with the building. Use of aluminums louvres to camouflage the ventilation holes give it an aesthetic look

Close-house system

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(iii) ISO 3166-1 Codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions Part 1 country code for Malaysia being 458 (1st

three digits)(iv) Followed by the application code one digit i.e:0 - pets and 1 - food animal/livestock(v) Next should be manufacturer’s code (next three digits). These are registered manufacturers in Malaysia.

Conclusion

Animal health must continue to improve with corresponding improvements in animal husbandry and management. Human resource development at all levels, not excluding the veterinarians, must be actively taken by all parties in the animal husbandry industry to ensure vibrany.

REFERENCES

Depar tment o f Ve te r ina ry Services SALT Booklet (2003)

Jim Edwards (2002). Veterinary Association Malaysia Congress.

M.Ariff Omar, (1999). National Congress on Animal Health & ProductionR. A.K. Fadzilah (2004).Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of edible-nest Swiftlets, Pets and Exotic Animals.

R . A .K . Fadz i l ah ( 2004 ) .Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of edible-nest Swiftlets,.

R. A.K. Fadzilah (2004). Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pets and Exotic Animals.

drug misuse or abuse is critical. Effective control or reprimand depends on rapid traceabili ty and impromtu identification of premises, contact holdings and zones. Ideally, there should be uniform traceabili ty strategies within the animal fraternity. The Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia has outlined standard as endorsed by Department of Standard Malaysia via SIRIM. Bhd. as follows:(i) ISO 11784 Radio-frequency ident i f icat ion of animal-Code structure (ii) ISO 11785 Radio-frequency identification of animal-Technical concept

out false positive or false negative cases. At Davis University, Laurie Wagner has developed a software called EARS (Early Aberration Reporting System)Identification And Traceability

Identification and traceability of animal products will be the norm with the implementation of AFTA. This is the motto ” from farm to the fork’. Below is an example of and ’organic product – birds nest’ from a birds nest premise in Malaysia.

Adequate tracing of animals in the event of theft, an outbreak or

White birds nest worth RM3,500 per kilogram raw.

Examples of Codes

458 0 - - - …..

Malaysia country code pet code manufacturer’s code animal sequence

458 1 - - - …..

Malaysia country code livestock code manufacturer’s code animal sequence

BEM

Red-nest from Indonesia

Red-nest from Sarawak, Malaysia

White-nest from Johor, Malaysia

Yellow-nest from Sabah, Malaysia

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By Ir. Haniffa Hamid, Ir. Dorai Narayana & Engr S. Anusuyah BaiIndah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd

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River pollution

I s s u e s r e l a t e d t o r i v e r contaminat ion and shortages of water supply have created pressure on parties identified as contributors to river pollution. Often, when water treatment plants are shut down due to high ammonia cal nitrogen or E-coli level, fingers are pointed towards public STPs as the main source of these pollutants. Statistics from Department of Environment (DOE) shows that almost 50% of river contamination originated from sewage related pollution. Public STPs only contribute a fraction of the sewage pollution and there are other sewage polluters i.e. private plants, septic tanks and pour flush systems and sullage from old housing areas that the authorities need to focus to effectively improve river water quality. Figure 5.1 is an illustration of the polluters in a typical local river stretch which demonstrates that public STPs are not the main polluters.

Land issues

WSIA does not specifically address land issues. Public STPs are mainly situated on land that

does not belong to the plant operators. Some of the problems faced by the public plant operators are:

(a) Certain public sewerage systems or part of the system including public sewers are situated on or run under private land;

(b) Periodically, developers merely hand over the sewerage system to the Government for operation but the land was not transferred, and remained in the ownership of a private owner;

(c) Some plants are situated within the same compound as the owner’s residential property;

(d) Some private owners insist on payment of market value for land or insist that the plant be removed to enable the owners to develop them.

(e) Land acquisition problems for the siting of new sewage or sludge treatment facilities.

This land issues need to be addressed for smooth operation and maintenance of the existing public plants including public sewers

Centralized And Decentralized Wastewater Management In Malaysia - Experiences And Challenges

and for long term operational improvements.

Design, construction and manufacturing issues

There is great diversity in types, specifications, quality and prices for ranges of sewage treatment plant products registered with the regulators. For example, the land areas required for treatment plants serving 2000 PE or less range between 500 m2 and 5000 m2 for Standard B category. The vast differences in the land areas occupied indirectly imply great variation in the design of system built. The quality of constructed sewerage works varies greatly from one to another, in terms of design, workmanship, rel iabi l i ty and performance. Quality of sewerage infrastructures in Malaysia though not extremely poor, is not very good either.

Complex combinations of sewerage systems

Almost 90% of the public STPs are less than 5000 PE in capacity, whereas these plants are only serving some 30% of the total connected PE. Furthermore

(Part 2)

Part 1 of this article appeared in the June-Aug 2009 issue of Ingenieur.

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in other growth areas or to upgrade and expand existing systems to cater for new developments. However, the rate of investment and construction of new facilities by the Government has not kept pace with the development of new land schemes, resulting in proliferation of multipoint sewerage systems in most areas.

Developer investment & integration

The deve lopmen t o f t he country at a fast pace resulted in ind iv idua l deve lopmen t s providing their own disintegrated piecemeal sewerage systems. Much investment by developer went into providing sewerage infrastructure, and continues to do so. There have been attempts at integrating developer investments through scheme developments, and also offsetting and other mechanisms linked to the Sewerage Contribution. However, these have seen little results due to inadequate mechanisms of policy, enforcement and funding support.

Training and skills development

Currently, the number of public plants in the country are many and consist of various kinds of treatment systems. The operators of the public plants will face difficulty if they were not properly trained to operate and maintain various kinds of treatment facilities. Secondly, due to the high number of existing treatment plants, some of the plants will be outsourced to other contractors to operate and maintain and they too need to be trained properly. Besides that, under the new WSIA regime, operators of the private plants need to obtain Class Licence to operate

Inadequate Government investment

Most areas in Malaysia do not have a centralized system in place due to lack of Government investment in the past . The multipoint sewerage systems were constructed by developers on a piecemeal basis as and when development took place. However, a difference could be seen in places such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang where the Government has invested in centralized sewerage systems. The new developments in these areas could connect to the centralized sewer networks instead of providing their own standalone sewerage systems. As a result the growth of multiple sewerage systems in these areas was not so rampant.

What is called for is investment to provide sewerage infrastructure ahead o f deve lopment . The Government has also introduced a system of Sewerage Capital Contr ibut ion (SCC), whereby developers connecting to existing sewerage systems need to contribute SCC. The SCC funds could be used to construct new sewerage systems

these plants are dispersed in development pockets nationwide. These multipoint systems are extremely challenging to operate and maintain ef f icient ly due to the wide variation in the designs, technologies and product options. In contrast, there are only a handful of large STPs over 100,000 PE in capacity located mostly in densely populated cities. Besides the scattered distribution of the sewerage facilities, various treatment systems and equipment are being built into these treatment systems, resulting in numerous combinations treatment process and equipment. For example, there are easily ten types of aeration equipment used locally, while each type of the aeration equipment is made available by several manufacturers who offer variation in design and technologies. In short , there are countless combinations of the t reatment processes and equipment at the some 5,000 sewage treatment plants currently under the care of public sewerage service. This presents operational logistics which are extremely complicated.

Figure 5.1: Typical Sources of River Pollution

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and maintain their plants. It is important for the private plants operators to undergo training as well before obtaining their Licence to operate the plants. The sewerage industry needs competent manpower in order that the varied functions involved can be carried out effectively and efficiently. For this, a structured training and skills development programme needs to be instituted. This can be linked to a scheme of accreditation and licensing to ensure that only qualified and trained people are involved in related functions.

Full cost recovery issues

Traditional thinking has been to move the sewerage sector towards full-cost recovery, with the

Figure 5.2 Full Cost Recovery – Users vs Beneficizzaries

entire mechanism based on tariff burden on the customer. For long term sustainability, a combined principle of polluter pays and beneficiary pays must be adopted. This should be equally applicable to CAPEX involved in sewerage infrastructure provision, upgrades, renewal as well as operation and maintenance. The middle path principle of achieving this is basically:

1. Polluter pays would be applied to prevent a change to a more polluting activity whereby they must pay for the damage they cause. Suitability for polluter pays will be in developed countries, where most infrastructures are ready and income gap between poor and rich is narrow.

2. Beneficiary pays would be used to encourage a change to a more environment beneficial outcome whereby whoever benefits from a clean environment should be responsible for pollution control costs. Suitability for beneficiary pays will be in developing countries, where most infrastructure need to be constructed, and income gap between poor and rich is wider.

Practical application would be;

(a) For O&M of existing systems, and for building new sewerage systems (CAPEX) the full cost recovery is from polluters

(b) For improvements, enhancement, upgrades and consequent O&M costs, full cost recovery must be from beneficiaries

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However, due to high CAPEX for centralized systems; this middle path principle could not be applied currently. Figure 5.2 shows the various parties who benefit from water services, and who should bear the costs.

RECOMMENDATIONS & WAY FORWARD

Recommendations

S u s t a i n a b l e s e w e r a g e management is the management of sewerage system according to the principles of sustainable development. To build a truly sus ta inable sewerage sys tem management requires the integration of action in three key areas:

(a) Economics - CAPEX, OPEX, Full Cost Recovery, Whole Life Cost and Sustainability

(b) Social - Level of Service, Transparency in Services, Affordable Tariff, Customer Service, Nuisance Control, Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) Concept.

(c) Environmental – Compliance, Buffer issues, Noise, Odour, Visual, Location/area/slope issues.

Figure 6 .1 i l lus t ra tes the integration of the three components of sustainable sewerage system.

Sustainable design balances human needs (rather than human wants) with the carrying capacity of the natural and cultural environment. It minimizes environmental impact and importation of goods and energy as well as the generation of waste. In this context, sizing of STPs (in terms of centralized system or decentralized system) in Malaysia depends on the area, the needs and the existing development and facilities. The main drivers for

proper sizing of STPs are Sewerage Catchment Area, Population and PE Projection, Buffer, Land Use/Land Availability and Logistics.

As ment ioned before, the sewerage system in Malaysia is a combination of centralized and decentralized system. The recommendation is not to prefer one over the other but choosing the appropriate type of sewerage system depending on the area. The appropriate type of sewerage systems in Malaysia based on var ious scenar ios are s ta ted below:

Scenario 1: New sewerage systems for Greenfield Developments

P l a n n i n g f o r s e w e r a g e in f ra s t ruc tu re can be done concurrently with development. Centralized sewerage systems are easily implemented, the cost is lower and the disruption will be minimal. The cost will be absorbed as part of development costs. Examples of areas which went through Scenario 1 are Putrajaya and Cyberjaya, where the sizing of STPs can be determined upfront (eg: 100,000 PE – 600,000 PE) in a centralized system.

Scenario 2: Existing Sewerage Infrastructure in developed areas

Existing systems serving an area has now to be expanded to serving a large area as well as increased density. These areas might consist of many different types of systems: public sewage treatment plants, private sewage treatment plants, individual septic tanks, primitive sys tems and su l lage was tes connected to drains. It needs a phased programme consisting of upgrading of systems, renewal, refurbishment as well as new facilities. It is more expensive and disruptive to carry out these works . The land avai labi l i ty issues may force a decentralized concept. Sizing of STP may vary from 200,000 PE – 1.8 million PE with pr ior i ty of funding, land availability and technology. Examples: Pantai Catchment (Kuala Lumpur) and Greater Georgetown Catchment (Penang).

Scenario 3: Sewerage Infrastructure for Slow Paced Development Area

Basically there are two main sewerage practices in slow paced development areas which are onsite sewerage treatment systems and communal multipoint system. There are no centralized sewage treatment facilities. Examples of such areas are Terengganu and Kelantan. Sizing is determined to meet development needs which can vary from 5,000 PE – 50,000 PE.

Scenario 4: Sewerage Infrastructure for Redevelopment Projects

Such scenarios exist when there is a need for centralized regional

Figure 6.1: Sustainable Sewerage Systems

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sewerage systems in existing areas with mixed sewerage systems. An example of such area is Wilayah Pembangunan Iskandar (Johor). Sizing is determined on the phasing of development and practicality of implementation which can vary from 50,000 PE -500,000 PE.

These four scenarios summarize the recommendations as stated below:

(a) Regional systems must be focused to cater for large urban areas

(b) Planning control must be in place to minimise number of multipoint plants

(c) There must be a standardised d e s i g n s a n d e q u i p m e n t t o help reduce overall cost and procurement and operat ional efficiency

(d) There still can be a minimum number o f on s i t e sy s t ems (decentralized system) but confined to small scale development in isolated areas.

(e) The t ime f ac to r i s a l so significant. As time passes, more urban area may warrant centralized systems.

Way forward for effective sewerage system management in Malaysia

In order to move towards a more effective sewerage sector development, there must be a proper strategy in place. Stated below are suggestions on proposed directions that could effectively address all major issues facing the sewerage sector and achieve the National Sewerage Development Goals.

(i) Need for Nationwide Sewerage Catchment Strategy

Sewerage catchment strategies have been completed for most areas. The next step is to review these reports and enable the Sewerage Catchment Strategies to provide the base information and Strategic framework which can be the basis for the formulation of Action Plans to meet Strategic Goals set by SPAN. A proper Nationwide Sewerage Catchment Strategy must be in place which acts as a timetable that defines the types of improvements which will take place in each Catchment area in a set timeframe. This will be done as part of the business plan formulation process, with targets including coverage, centralization, growth coverage, sullage issues, property connection and provision of basic systems for all areas.

(ii) Need for Integrated CAPEX Investment Strategy

Emphasis needs to be placed on planning and schemes to facilitate integrated investments of CAPEX by various parties, particularly the Government and the Developers. Policy, funds allocation and institutional support are the three key thrusts needed in this respect to mitigate the issues faced currently, including:

(a) Prol i ferat ion of sewerage systems

(b) Non- standard systems(c) Poor quality of facilities(d) Wasteful investment

(iii) Need for Whole Life Concept and Net Present Value

Currently, developers who construct the centralized and decentralized systems do not use

a whole life concept in building these assets. Most of the time, they purchase the cheapest materials and equipments in the market in order to save cost. Although the initial construction cost is lower, but due to the inefficiencies of equipment, the cost of operation and maintenance will be higher. So there is a need to apply the whole life concept and choose the best options through the Net Present Value Calculation. A Whole-Life cost refers to the total cost of ownership over the life of an asset. Also commonly referred to as “cradle to grave” or “womb to tomb” costs. Typical areas of expenditure which are included in calculating the Whole-Life cost are:

(a) Planning(b) Design (c) Construction/acquisition(d) Operations (e) Maintenance(f) Renewal/rehabilitation (g) Financial (e.g. depreciation

and cost of finance) (h) Replacement or disposal

(iv) Need for Seed Fund Mechanism

Government investment in providing sewerage infrastructure in advance of development , to enable new developments to connect to the ava i lab le infrastructure rather than build the i r own wou ld be idea l . However, this is often not possible. Policy and regulatory control can be used to encourage developers to work wi th each other to develop sewerage infrastructure in l ine wi th nat ional goals . However, these may also not be fu l ly e f fec t ive , un less a mechanism to financially assist developers in this endeavour can

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be put in place. It is proposed that a Seed Fund be created, to be utilised for this purpose. The fund can be utilised for the following purposes:

(a) Purchase of land for siting of sewerage facilities in accordance with Catchment Strategies in areas where substantial growth is expected, so as to enable construction of the facilities by developers

(b) Construct ion of sewerage inf ras t ructure in advance of development, so that extensions of the networks or construction of new modules can be done by developers.

(c) Construction of spur sewers, enabl ing extension of sewer networks to areas where large-scale new developments are expected

(d) F i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e t o developers carrying out sewerage infrastructure developments in accordance wi th Ca tchment Strategies, where additional land or capacities (for STP, inlet works or trunk sewers) are required

(e) Provision of off site sludge f ac i l i t i e s t o se rve mu l t ip l e developments

Other instances where seed funding is necessary to enable developer investments to be channelled in line with National sewerage goals.

(v) Need for Suitable Land for Ultimate Facilities

New land sites are required for implementation of new sewerage infrastructure under the Capital Works projects. There are two methods of land acquisition:

(a) Application for State Land(b) Compulsory purchase under

the Land Acquis i t ion Act 1960 (LAA)

The selection of suitable land sites for the purposes of STP, PS, sewerage network and sludge treatment/ disposal site is done through sewerage catchment s t rategy and sludge strategy. Consideration should also be given to the following aspects:

(a) Uti l ise the same si te for immediate, short term and long term project

(b) Type of system suited with the existing surrounding land use

(c) Social aspect

(vi) Need for Standardization within the Sewerage Sector

Standardisation of equipment, engineering design, and quality of work is essential to achieve overall industry efficiency and sustainability. As mentioned before, currently there are a large number of decentralized systems in Malaysia which consist of various types of design, equipment and treatment processes. The quality of most constructed sewerage works vary greatly from one work to another in terms of design, workmanship, reliability, performance, whilst the registered products available in the market range from best to worst, expensive to cheapest for the same range and types of products. It is impossible to regionalize all these areas in order to have one standardized system in place.

S t a n d a r d i s a t i o n m u s t b e a p p r o a ch e d h o l i s t i c a l l y t o ensure successful adoption and implementation. It must attain commitment from various levels

of stakeholders who would be required to adopt the same principles, s imilar pract ices, equivalent products/materials and follow systematic procedures of the proposed Standardisation Programme. The Standardisation Programme will focus on the following priority areas:

(a) Design and construction(b) Operation and maintenance(c) Refurbishment and upgrading

work(d) Product and equipment(e) Repair and replacement(f) Certification of works approval

(vii) Need for Effective Energy Management and Optimization for Efficiencies

There are a large number of inherited sewage treatment plants in Malaysia and most of them are not energy efficient. The Federal Government has emphasised the importance of energy efficiency in the public sectors. Government effort would only be effective if the private sector also improve energy management at their private facilities. Many major exercises have been carried out to upgrade the conditions of the existing sewerage infrastructures to improve their performance.

Several Guidelines have also been published to guide the development of new sewerage infrastructure in the private sector to ensure consistent quality at the completed facilities. However energy management has never been emphasised in the Guidelines and the common practices in this industry. Therefore an effective energy management plan would only be possible if all key stakeholders involved in the decision making are conscious about the importance of energy efficiency. The designers

42 THE INGENIEUR

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must ensure that the designs are efficient and are appropriate for the application. At the same time the technology recommended should be energy efficient. During the purchasing of the mechanical and electrical equipment, the contractors should ensure these equipment are energy efficient and are installed appropriately to minimise energy wastage due to unwarranted losses. When the operators take over the operation of the facilities, it is important that they are clearly aware of the operating environment such as influent characteristics and the facilities capabilities. This would help the operators to identify the most appropriate operating strategy to ensure that facilities are operated at their utmost efficiency and energy wastage is minimised. Hence commitment f rom al l stakeholders are crucial in ensuring the smooth implementation of an energy management plan.

(viii) Need for Structured Training and Certification Programme

As the new WSIA Act is in place, the sewerage industry will be handled by Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) as the regulator, Service Licensees (Operating and Maintaining Public Plants), Class Licensees (Operating and Maintaining Private Plants) and Facility Licensees (Owners). At present there are no specific requirements or standards that govern the sewerage operators even though IWK has been imparting knowledge and skills over the years. A structured programme to develop, train and certify sewerage operators are needed which is also in line with the requirement in the WSIA.

The programme shall:

(a) Ensure that sewerage operators have the required, necessary and/or minimum competencies to perform

sewerage services efficiently and effectively, and; (b) set a minimum standard for wastewater operators and the service licensees to comply in order to obtain and/or renew their license or the relevant permit from SPAN.

Currently, public sewerage serv ices have been act ive ly developing its own workforce as well as related people in the industry in various aspect of sewerage management. To this end there are a multitude of structured training and development programmes and materials specifically formulated for the following three categories i.e.:

(a) Category A -- focus on planning, design and certification of sewerage systems with 28 training modules aimed at executives, engineers and managers. Some of these modules are being used for

Figure 6.2: Water Cycle and Integrated Water Resources and Reuse

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the Water Executive Training Post Graduate Diploma course offered by UTM.

(b) Category B -- focus on the construction of sewerage systems targeted for professionals in the construction sector.

(c) Category C -- focus on operation and maintenance of sewerage systems with over 45 modules covering the existing public sewerage assets. Trainings is conducted at regular interval to keep employees up-to-date on equipment operation and maintenance

(ix) Need for Integrated Services for Maximum Sustainable Benefits

One of the considerations in integrated water-sewerage management as proposed by the Government is to look at the water cycle as a whole. The management of the supply of clean water and the removal and treatment of sewerage by a single entity is expected to bring much logistical advantage as well as economics of scale. Besides this, the common customer for water and sewerage services means that customer services, billing and related aspects can be streamlined and duplication eliminated.

The possibilities of reuse and recycling of sewage effluent are also opened with water-sewerage integration. Emerging technologies such as membranes have brought water reclamation possibilities closer to economic reality.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

The historical factors behind the development of sewerage systems in Malaysia have resulted in the current sewerage systems

in Malaysia consisting of a mix of centralized and decentralized systems. All these systems function at various degrees of efficiency. While it may be idealistic to follow the model of centralisation, economic considerations and affordability must be taken into account as well. Moreover, with the possibilities of recycling and reuse of effluent, biosolids and biogas; the strategies adopted must consider these in deciding the degree of Centralisation to be adopted as well as the timeframe.

The key is to adopt the most appropriate system for a given area, for a given period of time, and the Catchment Strategy will be the document which will help in this decision. The concept of centralized system and decentralized system

REFERENCES

Ujang.Z and Henze.M (2006) Municipal Wastewater Management in Developing Countries: Principles and Engineering, IWA Publishing, London,UK (Chapter 11: Management of Decentralised Sewerage Systems [Pg 293-332] Haniffa Hamid and Zaini Ujang)

Crites. R and G. Tchobanoglous (1998) Small and Decentralized Wastewater Management Systems, The Mc-Graw Hill Companies, Inc, United States.

Ir. Dorai Narayana (2007) IWK’s Asset Management Strategy, Planning and Engineering Department, IWK , Malaysia.

Planning Services Section (2008) Integrated Sewerage Planning Strategy and the Need for Planning Directives, IWK, Malaysia.

Planning Services Section, Sewerage Catchment Strategy Reports, IWK, Malaysia.

SPAN Act 654: Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara Act 2006, Percetakan National Berhad, Malaysia.

WSIA Act 655: Water Services Industry Act 2006, Percetakan National Berhad, Malaysia.

SSA 1993: Sewerage Services Act 1993, Sewerage Services Department, Percetakan National Berhad, Malaysia.

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must be driven by the Sewerage Catchment Area, taking into consideration Population and PE Projection, Buffer, Land Use/Land Availability and Logistics. The recommendation is not to prefer one over the other but choosing the appropriate type of sewerage system depending on the area. Cost and non-cost elements must be considered with appropriate weightages in the evaluation.

For the areas where centralisation is not adopted, strategies and planning directives must be in place to effectively manage the decentralized sewerage systems in the most effective manner. These may include setting appropriate s t a n d a r d s , s t a n d a r d i s a t i o n , regu la t ion and adop t ion o f appropriate technology.

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Fig 1: Trend in electrical accidents in Malaysia

By Ir. Ali Askar Sher MohamadUNITEN

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Safety of Electrical Workers

An electrical worker at an installation operating a switchboard

Employees of utility working on an overhead line

P eople involved in work on electrical apparatus can be divided into two broad

categories: those working in the electrical industry and those employed to work on electrical i n s t a l l a t i ons o f commerc ia l o r indus t r ia l bu i ld ings . The former are mainly the employees of the electrical utilities and their vendors while the second category includes the maintenance personnel employed to operate and maintain electrical installations of bui ldings and complexes. Electrical accidents involving both of these categories are not rare in Malaysia, yet there seems to be no urgent attempt to ensure their safety and protection in the course of their work.

Electrical Accidents Statistics

Statistics on electrical accidents in the country published by the Energy Commission show that the total number of accidents as well as the number of fatalities has more than doubled between 2002 and 2007 (Fig 1). The majority of these accidents are found to occur at the workplace. Fig 2 shows that the number of accidents occurring at the utilities and commercial/industrial installations are much higher than those occurring in residential premises, even though the latter greatly outnumber the former. The number of accidents a t the ut i l i t ies i s especial ly alarming. Considering only TNB

Distribution, it can be seen from Fig 3 that the number of fatalities among uti l i ty staf f and their contractors’ staff is almost equal, even though the total number of

accidents involving utility staff is substantially higher. What are the causes for this high number of accidents involving electrical workers?

Electrical Accidents 2002-2007

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Legislation

Legislation concerning safety for electrical workers comprises the following Acts and Regulations:

● Occupat ional Safety andHealth Act 1994 & Regulationsand Orders

This is a general piece of legislation covering all workers,

including those in the electrical industry and electrical workers in other industries. It defines the duties of employers and employees regarding safety and makes it obligatory to report all accidents but there are no specific clauses for electrical workers. Neither does the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) have provis ions for

Fig 3: Utility and contractor staff involved in electrical accidents at TNB Distribution, 2002/03-2007/08

its inspectors to check on the electrical industry or electrical installations.

● Electricity Supply Act 1990and Electricity Regulations 1994

This Act and the accompanying Regulations govern the supply of electricity in Malaysia and provides for the Energy Commission to be the agency responsible for this function. The Act has a section on Competent Control which makes it mandatory for all electrical installations to be operated by or under the control of Competent Persons. The Regulations then define the Competent Persons required according to voltage level of the installation. All Competent Persons need to be certified by the Energy Commission before being allowed to work at an instal lat ion. The Commission has a rigorous testing procedure involving theory, practical and oral tests to determine a candidate’s knowledge and practice of safe work procedures. The Regulations provide some guidelines on safe operat ions of an instal lat ion but do not go into details. The Regulations are also silent about some vital aspects of electrical safety, especially the provision of mandatory Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) for electrical workers.

● Industry CodesThere are two Industry codes

widely in use in the country, IEE Wiring Regulations (also known as BS 7671) and MS IEC 60364. Both of these Codes provide guidance on selection and erection of wiring and electrical equipment to ensure safe installation for the occupiers, especially low voltage installations. There are no instructions on safe work procedures for electrical workers.

Fig 2: Distribution of electrical accidents

TNB Distribution electrical accidents 2002/03 - 2007/08

Commercial/Industri

al

installatio

nUtility

Residential

Number of Accidents by location 2002-2007

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Causes of Electrical Accidents

Electrical accidents at the utilities or at electrical installations of complexes can be attributed to four main factors.

1. Faulty EquipmentOperation of faulty equipment

can spell danger for the operator. The most notorious is the switching of a faulty breaker which can cause an arc discharge leading to temperatures in excess of 10,000ºC, resulting in death or permanent disfigurement. Faulty equipment is often due to lack of maintenance, although sometimes it can be a design or manufacturing failure. Most industries religiously maintain their production equipment but fo rge t about the suppor t ing electrical infrastructure. Under the Electricity Regulations 1994, all electrical installations are required to be registered with the Energy Commission which has a duty to ensure that they are properly maintained. However, this regulation is seldom enforced.

2. Incompetent staffA l t h o u g h t h e E l e c t r i c i t y

Regulations specify the Competent Person who can work on a particular installation according to voltage level, it is an open secret that many of these installations have absentee Competent Persons who are paid a nominal sum to literally “hang” their Competent certificates at the installation to comply with the Regulations. The installation may actually be operated by personnel who are not certified and are inadequately trained in safe work practices, leading to the possibility of accidents. TNB has its own internal certification system to train and certify technical staff that are authorized to operate

An electrical worker in full PPE

the equipment in its network. Unfortunately when an accident occurs, it is sometimes found that the actual person doing the operation was not certified, and therefore not authorized, to operate the equipment. Sometimes, the operator may have been trained and duly certified, but accidents still occur due to failure to adhere to proper procedures when handling equipment. This can be a result of over-confidence or simply fatigue due to long hours on the job.

3. Lack of safe work proceduresUtilities have their Electricity

Safety Rules which lay down the procedures in working on their installations, especially details about switching, isolating supply, etc. However, some of these Rules

are quite dated and need to be reviewed with recent advances in technology. The major problem however, is the situation in non-utility installations. Most of them do not have published Safety Rules in operating their electrical e q u i p m e n t . Th e E l e c t r i c i t y Regulations only provide a general guide in isolating supply, working on a switchboard, etc. It is thus left to the skill and judgment of the operator, who may not even be competent, as noted above. A generic code, detailing the steps for switching and isolation, as well as related operations, is needed for the industry.

4. Improper Personnel ProtectiveEquipment

All personnel operating electrical equipment or even coming within a certain distance of live equipment need to wear the relevant PPE in case of a flashover or other incident. Unfortunately, there is no legislation making this mandatory or specifying the type and standard of PPE to be worn. Utilities provide PPE for their technical staff and have made its use mandatory via the Electricity Safety Rules. However, checks with international standards like NFPA 70E show that PPE provided, especially for arc flash protection, are not adequate. Another problem is the storage, maintenance and regular inspection of the PPE which rarely follow the recommendations of the manufacturer, thus making the warranty null and void. Utilities also do not enforce use of PPE by its contractors, which probably explains the higher fatality rate as shown in Fig 3. Non-utility installations are far worse off. The provision of PPE depends on the recommendation of the Competent Engineer in charge of the installation and the generosity

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The Ingenieur is the official publication of the Board of Engineers Malaysia. The journal provides useful and quality information on policy update, accreditation of local and foreign universities, training and courses, safety and health, business opportunities and others within the engineering arena. It is published four (4) times a year. To subscribe, please complete the following details:

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of its owners. It can be observed that in many cases, PPE is limited to gloves and hard hats. Even these items may not be used properly, for example rubber gloves may be used for both electric shock and arc flash protection.

Conclusion

Electrical accidents can be prevented or reduced. A comparison of our electrical accident statistics per KWh consumed with those of other countries like the UK, US and Canada shows we have a markedly higher number of accidents, especially fatalities. The current trend shows no signs of improvement. All parties need to play their part to improve the

situation. Legislation has to be strengthened, especially with regard to the provision and specifications of PPE for electrical workers. A National Code for safe operations of electrical installations, including switching and isolation procedures, is sorely needed. An international standard, like NFPA 70E, would be a good source of reference for the drafting of this code. The Energy Commission has to be beefed up to oversee electrical installations and confirm that regulations pertaining to maintenance of equipment and Competent Control are adhered to. Employers, including utilities, need to invest in equipment maintenance, PPE, and training and subsequent retraining of their staff. Finally, it is the electrical

worker himself who has to take responsibility for his own safety and welfare, and ensure that he comes safely home to his family after work.

REFERENCES

Energy Commission Annual Report 2007

Energy Commission Analysis of Electrical Accidents in Malaysia for 2002-2006

Electricity Regulations 1994

NFPA 70E, Electrical Safety in the Workplace

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T imber is one of the most useful building materials available and when kept in

a favourable environment will last indefinitely. When we talk about timber, we cannot run away from the durability aspect which has a direct influence on the performance of timber in service. Timber is an organic material, mainly made up of cellulose and lignin. One of the major drawbacks associated with usage of wood products is

the susceptibility of wood materials to biological deterioration and when timbers are put into service, they are subjected to weathering and biological attacks and not many t imber species exhibi t natural resistance against these physical and biological elements. Knowledge on natural durability is important especially when selecting timber for structural purposes. The biodegradable aspect makes it a potential food source for a variety

of fungi and insects. These wood destroying organisms are capable of breaking down the complex polymers which make up the wood structure. Bio-deterioration of wood products by micro-organisms and insects are a major problem causing great losses to property owners, especially those living in high humid conditions such as tropical Malaysia. The problem of termites (Figure 1), insect borer (Figure 2), sapstain

By Salmiah Ujang, Salamah Selamat & Mohd Nor Mohd YusoffForest Products Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia

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Treatment Of Timber In Housing For Safe Occupation

Figure 1 - Subterranean termites

Figure 2 - Bostrychid beetle

Figure 3 - Sapstain on rubberwood

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(Figure 3), mold (Figure 4) and decay fungi (Figure 5) is very rampant. The problem of decaying timber begins immediately after the felling process. When felled, timber is wet, becoming very susceptible to sapstain, mold and decay fungi, especially if the drying of timber is delayed. At semi- or fully-dry state, wood borer and termite attack in timber is common. Hence, effective process and wood protection are very crucial to ensure that the timbers are fully protected while in service. However, demand is currently towards preservatives that have a high degree of efficacy against termite and other wood destroying organisms, while also safe for humans and the environment.

Classification of Timbers

Malaysian timber is classified into softwoods, light, medium and heavy hardwoods (Table 1). There are very few true softwoods of commercial significance in Malaysia and none are durable in the tropics. The main difference between the timber of hardwoods and softwoods (conifers or cone bearing plants) is the absence of vessels (pores) in softwoods. Normal ly the sof twoods are characterised by needle-shaped leaves eg. Pine, Damar Minyak. Hardwoods are timbers that come from angiosperm ie. Dicotyledons. They are characterised by broad leaves and seeds are enclosed in a seed case. Hardwoods are divided into light, medium and heavy. Light hardwoods include all the relatively light weight timbers which range in density from 400 to 720 kg/m3 at 15% moisture content. They are ‘general utility’ timbers of Malaysia such as meranti, rubberwood, ramin,

Timber group Density (kg/m3) Durability Timber species

Heavy hardwood > 880 Very durable

Durable

Chengal, Resak

Bitis, Merbau

Medium hardwood 720 - 880 Durable

Moderately durable

Kasai, Teak

Pauh Kijang, Mata Ulat,

Kempas

Light hardwood < 720 Moderately durable

Non-durable

Sepetir

Meranti, Jelutong,

Rubberwood

Softwood 360 - 705 Non-durable Damar minyak,

Sempilor

Table 1: Classification of Malaysian timbers based on density and durability

Figure 4 - Mold on timber

Figure 5 - Rot under the floor joists due to wood decay fungi

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dark red meranti and medang. In addition to general utility purposes many of these light hardwoods are excellent for high class joinery work, cabinet making, furniture, decorative panelling, etc. Provided that proper precautions are taken against attack by wood destroying agents especially termites, borers and fungus, the light hardwoods as a whole make very satisfactory timbers for general construction.

M e d i u m h a r d w o o d s a r e modera te ly heavy to heavy constructional timbers ranging in density from 720 to 880 kg/m3 at 15% moisture content. Some of these timbers are heavy and strong enough to be classified as “Heavy Hardwoods” but under tropical conditions they lack sufficient natural durability when exposed to

the weather or in contact with the ground unless they are properly treated with preservatives before use. Examples of moderately heavy hardwoods are Kapur and Kempas. Heavy hardwoods are heavy or very heavy constructional timbers ranging in density from about 800 to 1,120 kg/m3 at 15% moisture content. They are naturally durable as they contain within their tissues some toxic materials, e.g. alkaloids or other substances repellent to wood destroying agents and can therefore be safely used without preservative t rea tment even in pos i t ions exposed to fungus or termite activities; the sapwood of these timbers, however, is not durable. Examples of heavy hardwoods are Bitis and Chengal.

Timber durability

The durability of timber is defined as the number of years the timber can last based on the performance of test sticks in graveyard testing or stake test (Figure 6) against wood destroying organisms and weather. The natural durability of timber, however, usually refers only to its degree of resistance to attack by biological agents and no wood is permanently resistant to all forms of biodeterioration. The most acceptable scientific study in evaluating the durability of timber is by the graveyard test, where timbers of standard size are buried in the ground and the length of time taken by these timbers to remain sound is computed as the durability rating

Figure 6 - A graveyard or stake test

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of the timbers. While this method gives an excel lent “relat ive” durability of the timbers tested, it does not really reflect the actual durability of the timber during service, especially under conditions that are not similar to those employed in the test. Those who are not familiar with durability test of timbers may assume that the published data on the durability of timbers are directly comparable, ignoring the fact that the tests were performed under different environmental conditions. For example, Kempas which is rated as Moderately Durable (2-5 years) when tested under the Malaysian conditions has been found to last for 25 years in the United Kingdom. Kempas excluding sapwood free f rom fungi and subterranean termites attack can last for about 20 years in service.

Through observation some proportion of untreated medium to heavy hardwoods timber lasts for about 100 years under the ordinary conditions of its use. This long durability used to be a characteristic of most timber houses and other buildings which can be seen clearly in some ancient houses. An example is the Istana Seri Menanti in Negri Sembilan. Why is the timber less durable now? The most likely explanation is that the timber that’s being used today comes from immature and smaller diameter trees and the majority contains a high proportion of sapwood. Timber is also made up of less durable species of wood than that used previously.

The knowledge of the natural resistance of timber to fungal a t t acks , t e rmi te s and o the r degrading organisms is essential for a more judicious and rational

use of wood with a view to bridging up the gap between supply and demand of wood.

Besides the use of the more common timbers like balau, resak, chengal, keranji, kekatong and kempas for building construction, ‘unknown’ or lesser known timbers have been utilized in Malaysia in the form of ‘chap-char’ (mixed woods) for a long time. Most of the time, consumers do not know exactly the type of timber species they use. The use of ‘chap-char’ is therefore, guided by the weight of the timber. To many people once the timber is heavy, it is going to be durable and strong. Thus, in the trade, very often we will come across the sale of timber in the form of ‘hard chap-char’ (equivalent to heavy to medium-weigh t mixed woods) and ‘soft chap-char’ (equivalent to mixed light woods). For obvious reasons, the ‘hard chap-char’ will find their way to the construction industry for use as roof-trusses, door and window frames, piling, outdoor structures and many others. ‘Soft chap-char’ on the other hand, will be used for boxes, crates, broom sticks, cladding, low-cost furniture and other temporary purposes. Sometimes, however, both the ‘hard chap-char’ and the ‘soft chap-char’ are mixed

together and s imply sold as ‘chap-char’ resulting in the usage of both light and heavy timbers in construction.

Timber treatment using wood preservatives

Treatment o f t imber wi th p re se rva t ive i s a means o f converting non-durable timber into durable timber. When suitably applied to wood, it will increase its resistance to attack by insects and fungi. However the durability of the timber concerned is dependent on the amount of preservative absorbed and the location of timber used. Preservative only prolongs the life of wood and it does not confer immunity from attack forever. The most important properties of wood preservative are highly toxic to fungi, termites and borers, good penetrability into the wood, permanence in wood, safe to use and handle, no side effects on wood and metals. A good preservative will maintain or increase the fire resistance properties of wood.

With the present scenario of timbers being supplied having a high sapwood to heartwood ratio which makes the timber non-durable, it is essential to have the timbers treated with preservative to extend the service life of timber. There are a few preservatives available for housing building materials such as copper-chrome arsenic (CCA), copper-chrome-boron (CCB), light organic solvent preservatives (LOSP) and boron-based preservatives. Usage of these preservatives and dosage required for timber components depends on specific commodity or hazard class. Amongst these preservatives, CCA is the most effective against termites and

Malay wooden house

52 THE INGENIEUR

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highly recommended for structural components especially for roof-truss, columns, beams, rafters and floor joists which are not in direct contact with the occupants. Eventhough CCA is banned in certain countries due to arsenic content, there is still no alternative in effectiveness against termites until now. In Malaysia due to the rampant problem with termites, CCA is s t i l l be ing used for structural timber and joinery.

There are several methods used for treating timber with p rese rva t ives . However, the vacuum pressure impregnation process is the most widely used method. In this method, dry timber is loaded into a cylinder and the wood preservative is forced into the timber through the use of a high hydraulic pressure. This method known as the full cell process or Bethell Process was invented by John Bethell in 1838. Today, the basic principles of operation remain unchanged. The advantages of this process is that it enables a considerable amount of preservative to be forced into

Figure 7 - CCA treatment plant

the timber, a large quantity of timber could be treated at the same time and by adjusting the treatment schedule, control over the retention and penetration of preservatives can be achieved (Figure 7).

Treatment of timber using CCA for different hazard classes can be based on Malaysian Standard MS 360:2006. Evidence of treatment process should be recorded by the plant operator in the charge sheet. The charge sheet gives useful details of the treatment charge, the quantity of timber treated, the results achieved from the treatment as well as details of the treatment cycle.

Handling of timber after the treatment process

All freshly treated timbers need to be left to drip dry for about three to six hours before subjected to drying for about seven days for fixation process to take place. In CCA treated timber, there is no chemical movement after the completion of

the fixation process. Therefore, the chemical distribution and depth of penetration remain at the same level upon releasing from pressure vessel. Quality control need to be carried to determine that standard requirements are met. Procedure in MS 360 has to be followed strictly to ensure good treated timber is obtained. This treated timber is ready for use in wood construction.

Building legislation & regulations

Designers, builders and those involved with timber buildings and their maintenance should place top priority that the rule of “dry wood having less than 20% moisture content will not decay” applies. I t is for this reason that timber floors have a sub-floor space to allow adequate ventilation to prevent build-up moisture and control of plumbing leaks within timber components. The presence of sufficient moisture will initiate decay. Termite control is another important aspect to be looked at. Implementation of termite barriers in the design is crucial to minimize infestation by subterranean termites.

Health & safety

Since all preservatives are toxic compounds, direct contact with humans need to be avoided. If treated timber is used as rafters, beams and roof truss; a boundary such as ceiling is necessary. If the material is exposed to humans, a few layers of paint or finishing have to be applied. Regular inspection and maintenance need to be implemented to ensure the treated material is safe and not exposed to occupants. BEM

THE INGENIEUR 53

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By Ir. Liaw Yew Peng

engineering nostalgia

Temengor Dam is one of the Southeast Asia’s largest rock-fill dam, 537m in length and 127m in height. It is located in the North-Western

part of Perak. Physical construction of 15 miles of access road through the virgin jungle commenced in 1972 for the main project to commence in 1974 and to complete in 1978 to meet the shortage of power supply. The official opening of the project was performed by His Royal Highness, the then Sultan of Perak on September 19, 1979.

The Power Station has four generating units comprising Francis turbines vertically coupled to water-cooled generators. Four power tunnels are designed to supply 87.5 MW unit each. At full operating condition the project will contribute 348

MW installed capacity and an average output 900 million units annually.

In spite encountering many unforeseen obstructions such as attack by armed terrorists causing more than three-month stoppage, delay in extraction of timber in the reservoir area and shortage of workers, the project was completed in time for impounding of reservoir in the monsoon season of 1977. Generation of power commenced in 1978 and within the budgeted cost of RM340 million - a feat we seldom hear of nowadays. The dedicated and brave workers, engineers, administrative and other technical staff who were involved in the construction of this project can cast their names in a Malaysian construction industry history with pride!

Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi accompanied by TNB Resident Engineer, Ir. Liaw Y.P., Hans Kolle, R.E. of Shawinigan Engineering Co. Montreal and Kumakura, the Deputy Project Manager and the Liaison Officer, Mr Itai of Hazama Gumi of Japan, inspecting the construction of one of the four Power Tunnels on 24/5/1976.

The Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Indonesia, accompanied by Defence Minister, Tan Sri Ghazali Shafee and the Malaysian Armed Forces Chief plus other VIPs visited the Site on 10/1/1977. The visit was conducted by Ir. Liaw Y.P. and Edward Irwin.

A Mega Project In The 1970s -Temengor Hydro Electric Project

Commencement of construction of low level upstream cofferdam to divert water from Sg. Perak and Sg. Temengor flowing through the completed two Diversion tunnels to downstream of the dam site to enable the filling of the rock-fill dam to commence. The closure of Sg. Perak was witnessed by the then Menteri Besar of Perak, Tan Sri Ghazali Jawi on 17/7/1975.

Looking downstream of Sg. Perak in 1973, it shows the original site of the project area at the conference of Sg. Perak and Sg. Temengor after the dense jungle had been cleared and burnt. At the narrow gorge the depth of water of Sg. Perak was about 40 feet flowing at critical velocity.

54 THE INGENIEUR

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Submitted by Ms Cheo Hong Keyong

Kuala Lumpur In The 1950s -Jalan Medan Pasar

engineering nostalgia

THE INGENIEUR 55

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