Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Maybank Embarks on Pioneer Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) Mentorship Programme with SME

From left: Hassan Alias, DOSH, Jaafar Ali, Managing Director of Usaha Sama Security Sdn Bhd, Nora Manaf, Head Group Human Capital of Maybank and Zaharim Osman

Maybank has become the first financial institution in Malaysia to embark on an Occupational Safety & Health Mentorship programme with a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME).

The Bank today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Usaha Sama Security Sdn Bhd (USS) to begin this year-long mentorship programme. The programme is part of the Federal Territory Department of Occupational Safety & Health (FT DOSH) "Mentor-Mentee & Good Neighbourhood Programme” with SMEs. It is aimed at increasing the level of occupational safety and health (OSH) for the SME sector with the support of key corporations.

Signing on behalf of Maybank at the ceremony was Nora Manaf, Head of Group Capital, while Jaafar Ali, Managing Director of USS signed on behalf of his company, The event was witnessed by Zahrim Osman, Director of FT DOSH, Ministry of Human Resource.

Maybank won the National OSH Excellence Award in 2008, and was nominated by FT DOSH to participate in this programme based on its proven high standards of occupational safety and health practices employed. The MOU with USS will involve all levels of employees of USS.

In her address at the signing ceremony, Nora said, "Maybank is honoured to be selected by FT DOSH to participate in this programme and we are pleased to share our OSH experiences with the SME sector. USS is one of Maybank's vendors and we see this as part of our corporate responsibility efforts in contributing to the development of better OSH standards in the country."

She added that this was a win-win mentorship programme because the implementation of a higher standard of OSH will ultimately lead to better efficiency and higher quality of service excellence by each partner.

Nora also commended USS for participating in the programme and for taking the lead to implement OSH initiatives in its work environment.

Nora said that under the mentorship programme, Maybank will undertake activities such as sharing of expertise by training USS employees, conducting OSH audits as well as advisory on laws and regulations pertaining to OSH.

Maybank has a vigorous OSH programme and a dedicated OSH department to implement such programmes for the more than 32,000 employees of the Group.
Some of the OSH initiatives include emergency and safety drills, knowledge acquisition via e-Learning courses, ongoing audits on work environment as well as talks and campaigns on health and wellness.

"We will also work with DOSH to promote such mentorship programmes with our other vendors. We believe that by working together to implement or enhance OSH programmes, we can promote a healthy and safe working environment that contribute to higher productivity and cost savings," she said.

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