4. What is the secret of your ability to interact with your peers and workers to convey the importance of safety and health in the workplace?
It’s pretty simple - communication among staff and workers.
5. What will you like others to understand of your journey as a safety supervisor?
I’ll like them to appreciate the importance of the awareness of safety in our lives and not to take safety for granted.
I believe in the value of my work (helping others with safety knowledge) and the importance of ongoing learning.
6. What training are you planning to get to improve your knowledge and skills as a safety supervisor? How far have your progressed? Why do you do it?
I am grateful for the training I have received so far. From when I joined to date, I have participated in a whole range of training:
Hazard at Workplace by NIOSH
Safety & Health Officer Course by NIOSH
Accident Investigation Course by NIOSH
Safety in Agriculture by NIOSH
HIRARC in workplace by NIOSH
Basic of First Aider by JKKP
The Danger of Noise by NIOSH
OSH Workshop in Agriculture by NIOSH
Generation Safety & Health by NIOSH
Optimise the Collection and Use of OSH Data by NIOSH
First Aid & CPR Training by an external service provider
In the immediate future, I plan to obtain training as an Occupational Safety and Health Coordinator and in the labelling of hazardous chemicals.
sUsTAInABILITY sTATEMEnT
(COnT’d)
(Incorporated in Malaysia)
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
51 Our People (cont’d.)
• Human Resource Practices (cont’d.)
This year has been challenging for the plantation sector in relation to labour shortages due to the COVID-19 movement restrictions. As a result, our overall turnover rate has increased to 28% from 15% in FY2020 as many of our migrant workers were unable to return to Malaysia due to the movement restrictions. The following employee metrics cover our workforce composition based on age, gender and nationality.
The Group aims to continue regular engagement with employees to identify areas for improvement in regard to employment practices, employee welfare and benefits. Due to the physically demanding nature of our work, the majority of the composition of our workers are male and middle-aged workers. Although our workforce comprises of 75% of foreign workers from Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, India and Nepal, we strive to hire locally where possible.
91%
92%
91%
92%
9%
8%
9%
8%
FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Employee Breakdown by Gender
Male Female
21%
15%
18%
15%
15%
7%
15%
16%
12%
32%
29%
11%
<30 30-50
>50
Turnover Rate by Age Group
2021 2020 2019 2018 17%
22%
15%
9%
15%
16%
29%
17%
Male Female
Turnover Rate by Gender
2021 2020 2019 2018
Diagram 8: Turnover rate by gender Diagram 9: Turnover rate by age group
Diagram 10: Employee breakdown by gender
37%
42%
37%
35%
56%
52%
56%
57%
7%
6%
7%
8%
FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Employee Breakdown by Age Group
<30 30-50 >50
Diagram 11: Employee breakdown by age group
sUsTAInABILITY sTATEMEnT (COnT’d)
51
(Incorporated in Malaysia)
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
Our People (cont’d.)
• Human Resource Practices (cont’d.)
Over the years, we have invested in training and development of employees across the Group. In FY2021, total training hours decreased substantially to 266 hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic but pending unforeseen circumstances, we aim to bring these hours up to what was achieved pre-pandemic in FY2022.
Our approach towards employee welfare is to cultivate a culture of mutual care, responsibility and accountability to our employees’ personal and familial welfare. As a socially responsible employer, the Group complies with labour laws and regulations and ensures adequate measures are in place to protect the safety and well- being of our people. We provide living quarters to our employees, compliant with standards set by the Ministry of
Human Resources. We have
continuously placed effort to improve the living conditions of our workers at our operating units.
Despite the pandemic, we have continued our ongoing programme of infrastructural renewal. We completed the construction of new executive and labour quarters in our Keratong Estate, and we replaced old staff quarters in our Gua Musang Estate. In addition, we have also started upgrading works on the health care and livability infrastructure of Keratong Estate which is planned for completion in FY2022.
19%
21%
22%
25%
81%
79%
78%
75%
FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Employee Breakdown by Nationality
Malaysian Non-Malaysian
1,127 356
214 196
FY2018 FY2019 FY2020 FY2021
Employee Learning and Development Hours
Diagram 12: Employee breakdown by nationality Diagram 13: Total external training hours
New Living Quarters at Keratong Estate
Ongoing construction of sundry shop and canteen at Keratong Estate
sUsTAInABILITY sTATEMEnT
(COnT’d)
(Incorporated in Malaysia)
SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
53 Our People (cont’d.)
• Human Resource Practices (cont’d.)
• Social Compliance
Social compliance refers to our responsibility to protect the health, safety, and rights of our people, the community and environment in which we operate, and the lives and communities of workers in our supply and distribution chains. Our increasingly marked practice of social compliance – including those of labor and human rights – is evident in our obtaining of the MSPO certification, which entails having in place grievance mechanisms and stakeholder engagements. Our operating units (OUs) continued to be certified under the MSPO and MSPO Supply Chain Certification Scheme (MSPO-SCCS) regime after the OUs were audited.
We strive to create a conducive environment for our stakeholders where they are safe and free to raise their grievances through our complaints and grievance mechanisms. Our stakeholder engagements are not restricted to stakeholder meetings alone, but also involves other formal and informal engagement processes where our operating units engage with stakeholders and act on the feedback they have received. Stakeholders are encouraged to report any illegal, unethical, or misconducts affecting them through allowing stakeholders to report misconduct without fear of retribution.
For FY2021, we have neither recorded any significant complaint nor received any fine pertaining to a breach in laws and regulations.