Malakoff’s Prai Power Plant (PPP) held its Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) Week celebration from 12 to 21 December 2018, aimed to create health and safety awareness amongst the staff and maintain a good working relationship with the local authorities. The event was officiated by the Plant Manager, En. Lan Sulkaimy Md Yusof and attracted more than 50 participants, comprising of Malakoff staff and guests.

In his welcoming speech, he stated that in 2018, PPP has initiated a plan to control commuting accidents around and outside the plant as part of the health and safety culture at the plant. By cooperating with the local authorities, PPP also managed to carry out safety drills and exercises to heighten the safety awareness of the staff by testing on their emergency preparedness.

“It is important for us to maintain good co-operation with the authorities and simultaneously, educate ourselves on accident prevention because when an accident occurs, we will be quick to respond and alarm the local authorities”, he added.

The week-long celebration kicked off with a congkak competition among staff held in the Admin building. Outside, supporters cheered at the top of their lungs for their teams in an exciting Tug of War competition held at the field in front of the building. The participating teams were segregated by departments namely Electrical, Mechanical 1, Mechanical 2, C&I, Admin, Operation and a Mix team consisting of members from various departments.

Apart from these, a fishing competition was held for staff who are avid anglers to participate.

As part of the plant’s 2018 target to minimise environmental impact, staff were encouraged to collect e-Waste such as discarded electronic parts, rechargeable batteries and fluorescent tubes. These would be sent to the Department of Environment (DOE) to be properly disposed off or recycled by DOE’s approved vendors.

The HSSE Week took on a more educational route as three informational talks covering health and safety topics were organised. Acknowledging that the plant has also been gazetted as a ‘Kawasan Paling Penting Negara’ by Jabatan Sasaran Penting Negara (JSPN), ASP Hamdan Abdul Latip of IPD Pulau Pinang was invited to speak on “Handling Bomb Threat” to fulfil PPP’s objective in reviewing their Emergency Response Plan (ERP) in handling such situation.

In a bid to reduce commuting incidents, a formal safe-driving discourse was held by Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya (JKJR) that further delved into the topics of defensive driving and ways to prevent or minimise the likelihood of an accident.

As an effort to curb work-related stress which can subsequently cause unwanted safety incidents, Professor Dr. Mohd Jamil, Consultant Psychiatrist from KPJ Hospital Prai presented on “Stress Management Awareness” due to an alarming incline in staff affected by stress presumably due to an accumulative pressure from work and daily responsibilities.

The HSSE Week celebration would be incomplete without a drill demonstration aimed to create awareness and to test the skills on the Emergency Response Team on site. This time around, the highlight was a demonstration of a chemical spillage drill caused by an accident between a bicycle and a forklift at site.

The demo was conducted by PPP HSSE team in collaboration with the Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat Prai. Based on a foreseeable event, the drill tested on all parties’ ability to comply to the prescribed Emergency Response Plan in a timely and efficient manner to ensure that any chemical spillage is contained and the injured is given the proper attention.

The demo truly captured the necessary steps needed to be adhered to by staff and the local authorities to control the situation before proceeding with the recovery plan.

As an appreciation and a show of camaraderie between PPP and Balai Bomba dan Penyelamat Prai, both teams went head-to-head in a friendly Tug of War which filled the place with shouts and cheers from spectators. After an exhilarating 15 minutes, PPP team won the match.

After an action-packed week, the event concluded on 21 December with a prize giving ceremony by En. Lan to all winners and a presentation of tokens to those who celebrated their birthdays in November and December.