KUALA LUMPUR: Gamuda Berhad recently picked up the coveted Excellent Honour in Construction Golden Safety Award, making it the first Malaysian company to win this prestigious safety award from Taiwan’s Ministry of Labour.

The regional construction group and its Taiwanese partner, Dong-Pi Construction Co Ltd, won the top Taiwanese accolade last month for the ongoing construction of the Guantang Marine Bridge in Taoyuan.

The project has been lauded for its focus on employee welfare as a key component of ensuring security and health. It has been singled out for its rigorous engineering and safety measures to mitigate weather-related risks to marine construction workers.

Referring to the award from Taiwan's Occupation Safety and Health Administration, Justin Chin Jing Ho, Gamuda Engineering Sdn Bhd’s managing director, says that Gamuda takes great pride in pushing the ceiling higher when it comes to upholding the culture of safety in all of their international projects.

“We take great satisfaction in being the first Malaysian firm to receive such an honour from Taiwan, and we are incredibly appreciative of our workforce’s commitment to advancing our safety cause,” Chin adds.

The RM521.75mil (NT$3.95bil) project from Taiwan’s state-owned energy company, CPC Corporation, to support CPC Corporation’s Third Liquefied Natural Gas Receiving Terminal at Taoyuan, is at 80% completion to date.

Awarded in 2019, the project involves the construction of a 1.23km marine bridge connecting a receiving terminal to a man-made island and a 284m long road embankment, which includes soil investigation, a foundation, a temporary bridge and a working platform, together with environmental protection works. In 2022, the marine bridge was extended by 376m, totalling to 1.61km which is slated for completion in 2024.

Gamuda’s marine bridge project was hailed for its exceptional safety features. Considering the weather risks associated with marine construction, Gamuda assembled a risk management team with expertise in maritime meteorology to monitor, predict, and forecast wind/wave/tide/current to minimise risks to life and property.

For pile cap construction, it has opted to use a steel box cofferdam so that workers can work in dry conditions and away from the waves. In addition, the company designed the project so that the bridge would be constructed using pre-cast segmental girder boxes instead of in-situ casting. This was done to reduce the amount of offshore lifting work, concrete work, and work at height.

Worthy to note, this is not the first award won by the Group in Taiwan. Gamuda’s first tunnelling job was building part of the Kaohsiung Metropolitan Mass Rapid Transit, which received the Air Quality Protection Award and National Environmental Protection Outstanding Award from the Taiwan government for its rigor¬ous approach to environmental protection, quality control and project management.

Meanwhile, Gamuda’s top safety honours don't just stop there. For the third time, Gamuda’s other joint venture with MMC Corporation Berhad for the Klang Valley MRT (KVMRT) project bagged the Sword of Honour from the British Safety Council (BSC). The Sword of Honour, created in 1980, is awarded to occupational health and safety's most exemplary practitioners.

Previously, MMC Gamuda picked up the Sword of Honour in 2019 and 2020.

“To achieve the Sword of Honour, the highest standards of health, safety and environmental management once is laudable – to win it twice is impressive, but to earn a third one is to be at another level altogether," states Mike Robinson, BSC Chief Executive.

This year, MMC Gamuda which is the main contractor for the MRT Putrajaya Line, the second line of the KVMRT that runs from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya via Serdang, received a total of two awards from the BSC: one for overall excellence in maintaining workplace health and safety, and the other for excelling in a comprehensive safety audit.

"These awards are a testament to the sustained effort of our people for continuous improvement in managing risks and striving for international safety and health best practices year after year. While we continue delivering our projects, we want to leave a lasting legacy when it comes to safety and health, and continue to lead in this space regionally," says Chin, who was in London to receive the Sword of Honour on behalf of Gamuda

MMC Gamuda is one of the select few organisations worldwide out of 118 applicants that qualified for the 2022 Sword of Honour and the only Malaysian company to do so to date.

In fact, the Sword of Honour assessment methodology is now even more intertwined with the Five Star Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Audit by the BSC. Nominees must earn a score of at least 92% in the previous year's Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Audit by the BSC. Only organisations with a five-star rating can be considered for the Sword of Honour. Last year, MMC Gamuda earned a five-star score in BSC's Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Audit.

As part of its commitment to OSH excellence, MMC Gamuda voluntarily participates in BSC's Five Star Occupational Health and Safety Audit. The company's OSH policies, processes, and practices are thoroughly assessed during the year-long audit.

The BSC audit consists of document review, interviews with senior management, employees, and other key stakeholders, as well as a two-week sampling of on-site activities. It also assessed the company's health and safety management best practices using over 60 components. The 2019 audit included mental health and building information management (BIM).

Founded in 1957, the BSC – with members in more than 60 countries - has fought to protect workers from accidents, hazards, and unsafe conditions and helped pass landmark UK safety legislation. Its global members believe a healthy and safe workplace is necessary and also good for business.