INGENIEUR
Foreign Workers in the Malaysian
Construction Industry
There are 850,000 construction personnel
registered with CIDB, including professionals,
skilled workers, and general workers. Of
this number, 400,000 are foreign workers
originating from Indonesia and the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Lim, 2018).
The construction sector has the second largest
dependency on foreign workers with 37.4%
employed in agriculture, 23.6% in construction,
and 20.5% in manufacturing. In contrast, the
share of foreign workers in mining and services is
relatively small, at 12.5% and 8.9% respectively
(Myt, 2018). Most Malaysians are not willing to
perform jobs known as the 3D’s (Dirty, Dangerous,
and Difficult), leaving foreign workers to fill in
the vacancy. Furthermore, Malaysians are not
interested in the rough nature of working on site,
which requires more physical strength; they prefer
working in air-conditioned offices instead.
Provision of Amenities and
Accommodation for Temporary Workers
Based on the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights adopted by the General Assembly of
the United Nations, everyone has the right to a
standard of living adequate for the health and
well-being of himself and of his family, including
permanent or temporar y accommodation
(Labour & Standards, 1961). Malaysia is in the
process of revising Act 446 to ensure that the
construction workers are not neglected in terms of
accommodation and amenities (Laws of Malaysia,
2006). Employers normally provide foreign workers
with accommodation on-site or off-site. However,
these accommodations are in very poor condition.
Some foreign workers live in “cramped, dirty and
unhygienic conditions” in this country. Therefore,
to improve workers’ welfare, the Malaysian
Government is committed to placing emphasis on
the well-being of construction workers because
without proper accommodation, their health and
safety, and by extension the community at large,
will be affected.
Moving forward, Malaysian Standard MS
2593:2015 was developed by the Department
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of Standards Malaysia (DSM) together with CIDB
Malaysia. It sets minimum requirements for
the temporary amenities and accommodation
of construction site workers (Department of
Standards Malaysia, 2015). To complement the
standard, Guidelines for Temporary Construction
Workers’ Amenities and Accommodation was
established in order to align the amenities and
accommodation standards (CIDB Malaysia,
2018). The guideline addresses the processes
and standards that should be applied to
the provision of workers’ amenities and
accommodation.
Minimum Requirements for Temporary
Amenities and Accommodation for
Construction Workers
Although the accommodation may be temporary,
fully equipped amenities such as comfortable
rooms, dining rooms, common living rooms, etc.
should still be provided to the workers, as they are
forced to work away from their homes. Meanwhile,
the facilities should include communication
facilities, medical services, efficient security,
etc. Temporary accommodation and amenities
should be operated by the employer or a facility
contractor specialist’s appointed facility manager
who should be responsible for providing and
maintaining a standard of care. Every effort
needs to be made to reduce the side effects of
temporary accommodation and amenities on
the area and the surrounding community. Hence,
based on typical considerations for the initial
commencement of such a move, there are several
facets that must be considered, namely; the type
of workplace, the work-related location, the type of
work to be carried out, the number of employees in
the workplace, the party in charge of work and the
accommodation and working period (i.e. standby,
shifts, etc.) (Department of Standards Malaysia,
2015).
An extension to the standard MS 2593:2015,
Guidelines for Temporary Construction Workers’
Amenities and Accommodation (CIDB Malaysia,
2018), outlines the basic needs that should
be provided. The necessary requirements for
temporary accommodation and amenities are
outlined below: