Workplace improvement program for the furniture industry in Malaysia

Ho K.S., . (2000) Workplace improvement program for the furniture industry in Malaysia. [Proceedings Paper]

The furniture industry in Malaysia has played an important role in the countrys economic growth. The growth in furniture export is very impressive from RM 171 million in 1989 to over RM 2.8 billion in 1997. There are over 2000 furniture manufactures in Malaysia of which over 200 manufactures are engaged in the export of furniture and the remaining are small-and-medium-sized enterprises. Being small-and-medium-sized entrepreneurs they are very busy looking after problems of finance production and marketing giving them very little time o spare for improving environment of workplace operational safety and efficiency motivation and efficiency of workers and their welfare. A project entitled Environmental improvements in the wood processing industry had been funded by Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development DANCED and executed by Forest Research Institute Malaysia FRIM since October 1996 and ended on October 1998. Under the project there were three main activities viz. 1 clean technology 2 waste management 3 occupational health and safety. It was under the third activity that a workplace improvement program was adopted and introduced to two groups of furniture companies in assisting them to identify and implement areas of possible improvements. The program is based is based on the Workplace Improvements in Small Enterprises WISE methodology developed by the International Labour Office. It aims to demonstrate to entrepreneurs and workers that better working conditions can result in higher productivity and improvements in quality of work. For example simple measures such as the regular cleaning of the work area and machines improved lighting or proper storage of materials can reduce work hazards while upgrading efficiency. Well designed equipment and organisational improvements can increase the efficiency motivation and capability of employees while reducing fatigue strain absenteeism and labour turnover. Activities in the program are oriented in according with the concept of learning by doing and the participation of participants are greatly encouraged through trained facilitators. These activities are outlined and described in this paper. These include visiting participating companies by the program facilitators workshops to present technical subjects and ideas and two intermediate periods for preparing action plans and implementing proposed improvements. All these activities were spanned over a period of one month. Follow-up workshops were carried out in 5-6 months time after the completion of the above activities as a mean to monitor the progress of the participants in relation to the implementation of improvements and to provide any technical assistance as needed. Achievements of the program were highlighted based on the results from the two groups of companies. These are supported with statistics on the planned improvements and also on the improvements that were fully implemented. Examples of improvements are selected to illustrate the situations before and after implementation. These cover areas on material storage and handling work station design lighting productive machine safety control of hazardous substances welfare facilities work organization ventilation and premises. A reasonable balance between the productivity and occupational health and safety side of the implemented and the planned improvements can be seen from the results of the WISE program.

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Abstract

The furniture industry in Malaysia has played an important role in the countrys economic growth. The growth in furniture export is very impressive from RM 171 million in 1989 to over RM 2.8 billion in 1997. There are over 2000 furniture manufactures in Malaysia of which over 200 manufactures are engaged in the export of furniture and the remaining are small-and-medium-sized enterprises. Being small-and-medium-sized entrepreneurs they are very busy looking after problems of finance production and marketing giving them very little time o spare for improving environment of workplace operational safety and efficiency motivation and efficiency of workers and their welfare. A project entitled Environmental improvements in the wood processing industry had been funded by Danish Cooperation for Environment and Development DANCED and executed by Forest Research Institute Malaysia FRIM since October 1996 and ended on October 1998. Under the project there were three main activities viz. 1 clean technology 2 waste management 3 occupational health and safety. It was under the third activity that a workplace improvement program was adopted and introduced to two groups of furniture companies in assisting them to identify and implement areas of possible improvements. The program is based is based on the Workplace Improvements in Small Enterprises WISE methodology developed by the International Labour Office. It aims to demonstrate to entrepreneurs and workers that better working conditions can result in higher productivity and improvements in quality of work. For example simple measures such as the regular cleaning of the work area and machines improved lighting or proper storage of materials can reduce work hazards while upgrading efficiency. Well designed equipment and organisational improvements can increase the efficiency motivation and capability of employees while reducing fatigue strain absenteeism and labour turnover. Activities in the program are oriented in according with the concept of learning by doing and the participation of participants are greatly encouraged through trained facilitators. These activities are outlined and described in this paper. These include visiting participating companies by the program facilitators workshops to present technical subjects and ideas and two intermediate periods for preparing action plans and implementing proposed improvements. All these activities were spanned over a period of one month. Follow-up workshops were carried out in 5-6 months time after the completion of the above activities as a mean to monitor the progress of the participants in relation to the implementation of improvements and to provide any technical assistance as needed. Achievements of the program were highlighted based on the results from the two groups of companies. These are supported with statistics on the planned improvements and also on the improvements that were fully implemented. Examples of improvements are selected to illustrate the situations before and after implementation. These cover areas on material storage and handling work station design lighting productive machine safety control of hazardous substances welfare facilities work organization ventilation and premises. A reasonable balance between the productivity and occupational health and safety side of the implemented and the planned improvements can be seen from the results of the WISE program.

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Item Type:	Proceedings Paper
Additional Information:	Summary only En
AGROVOC Term:	WORK ORGANIZATION
AGROVOC Term:	FURNITURE
AGROVOC Term:	WORKING CONDITIONS
AGROVOC Term:	WOODWORKING
AGROVOC Term:	WOOD INDUSTRY
AGROVOC Term:	LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY
AGROVOC Term:	JOB PERFORMANCE
AGROVOC Term:	MALAYSIA
Geographical Term:	MALAYSIA
Depositing User:	Ms. Norfaezah Khomsan
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2025 05:27
URI:	http://webagris.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/16523

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