Inclusive MBAM the way forward

ONE of the main pillars of the construction industry are the carpenters, bricklayers and masons and the guilds that represent them. These skilled unsung heroes (in nation building) are grouped under the United Malaysia Contractors Association (UMCA) umbrella, which is almost a century old. With a nationwide membership of over 6,000, their interests are looked after by 19 state-level kin cho hong (tradesmen associations). Only four are affiliate members of the Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM).

Engaging this national grouping is a top priority as I seek to build on the accomplishments of my predecessor Datuk Matthew Tee, who has succeeded in raising the public profile of MBAM as a recognised voice of the construction industry.

I see a need to be inclusive and to embrace all the UMCA affiliates, as well as the federation, so that MBAM can be more effective in representing the industry in its dealings with the government and other stakeholders.

I am happy to report that co-opting UMCA into the MBAM executive council has been a wise move. Our membership has doubled to 12,664 members, the number of direct members has risen to 1,009, and affiliated associations by four to 31 — all in a short four months.

MBAM will now be able to get invaluable input from UMCA and this will help us live up to our mission and aspirations to be the single unifying voice to protect and advance the interests of the construction business.

While the industry has seen robust growth of more than 10% a year in the past decade, it faces big challenges ahead. The onus is also on us to fulfil the government’s ambition to complete the multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects announced in Budget 2017.

Focus group findings

To face these challenges, I convened a meeting of the new executive council a month after I took over. During the recent brainstorming session, council members were divided into four focus groups to discuss what needed to be done.

The overarching issues that concerned them were quality and safety. Other issues were the need to strengthen MBAM, raise its public profile and to be “the first among equals” in promoting standards of excellence.

On quality, it begs the question: Would contractors compromise on quality and prompt delivery as tenders are awarded on competitive pricing and track record? Gone are the days when buyers would turn a blind eye to sloppy workmanship and poor quality building materials. These directly affect not only the safety of the structures being built but also of the public and the workers.

Cutting down on fatal accidents

On safety, the Occupational Accidents at Work Site statistics from the Department of Occupational Safety and Health for 2014-2015 are alarming. One out of three serious injuries were fatal, with the number of deaths rising 22% to 88 cases in 2015 compared with 72 cases in 2014. The number of serious injuries, including non-permanent disability and permanent disability, rose 38% to 237 cases in 2015, compared with 172 in 2014.

My goal is to create awareness, enhance workers’ knowledge and change the mindset towards construction safety. This can be done through increasing the frequency of courses on safety procedures, retraining and other construction-related courses. It is not impossible to reduce by 50% the construction-related fatality rate by 2020. MBAM is aiming for a target of 3.25/100,000 workforce by 2020.

I believe this is possible. It is not a figure plucked out of the sky but reflects a commitment by MBAM members to reduce the incidence of occupational accidents and takes into account safety and health measures to be put in place.

I hope to bring about changes and improvements that will not only make MBAM look good on the outside but healthy on the inside. The scope of what needs to be done and the deliverables have been identified and the key performance indicators (KPI) have been set.

Setting standards of excellence

MBAM has since 2012 awarded the MBAM Golden Helmet Award for Leadership in Safety and Health to an individual who has made a significant contribution to safety and health in the industry. The MBAM Safety and Health Award for Site Personnel is presented to a person who has shown high commitment to the implementation of safety and health measures at construction sites.

MBAM also conducts training courses to churn out more qualified site safety supervisors to meet the legal requirement that they have to be stationed at all construction sites. To date, MBAM has trained more than 3,000 of them nationwide.

Another priority is to improve the ratio of local to foreign workers from 1:3 to 1:2 by 2025 to reduce the dependence on foreign labour. This is possible with the move to encourage the use of heavy machinery, promote the use of technology such as building information modelling and change the mindset of contractors to adopt the industrialised building system, which involved the assembly of prefabricated building components at the site.

The construction industry has come a long way. To stay relevant, it has to adopt and adapt to prevailing trends: to reduce, reuse and recycle.

MBAM will not only promote awareness by holding talks and seminars on environmental sustainability but will also push for participation in carbon footprint reduction deliberations with the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water. This is so that the association can try to have a say in standards on sustainability that will be more realistic, practical and achievable.

The KPI I have set is to conduct at least two visits to relevant governing authorities and two talks to educate contractors annually.

Being proactive

Two initiatives I hope to accomplish during my two-year tenure are first, the creation of a group, tentatively named International Builders of Malaysia, which will be tasked with the objective of looking after the welfare and business promotion of overseas contractors of Malaysian companies. This will bolster the competitiveness of Malaysian contractors abroad.

The other is my desire to see MBAM acknowledge the industry’s best by staging The Best Trade Contractors Award to recognise good business practices at a prestigious annual ceremony.

Foo Chek Lee is president of the Master Builders Association of Malaysia and executive director of Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd.

This article first appeared in City & Country, a pullout of The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on Nov 14, 2016. Subscribe here for your personal copy.