INGENIEUR
Forensic
Engineering
T
he spate of engineering failures over the
past few years had prompted the Board
of Engineers Malaysia (BEM) to produce
a position paper on the “Responsibility and
Accountability of Stakeholders in the Construction
Industry”. Several recommendations were
presented — some were adopted, and others
were placed under consideration, such as the
mechanism for the appointment of consultants.
The findings of the BEM Working Group attributed
the main causes of engineering failures to human
factors such as incompetency in design works,
poor supervision and workmanship.
The many incidences of structural collapses due
to temporary works during the construction stage
has also drawn the attention of BEM. BEM takes the
position that temporary works should be accorded
the same respect as permanent works. Consultants
should play a role in this rather than leaving it
totally to contractors. On this premise, BEM has
drafted the “Guidelines on Temporary Works” with
the view of preventing untoward incidents during
the construction stage. There are also views that
all standard forms of contract should allocate a
fix percentage of preliminary works for temporary
4 6
VOL
2018
VOL 76
55 OCTOBER-DECEMBER
JUNE 2013
works as contractors tend to save on this portion
of works.
The few articles in this issue by the Department
of Occupational Safety and Health as the authority
in regulating construction site safety provide a
good account of the mechanism of site accident
investigation and the legal aspects related to it.
All stakeholders should take a serious look at
the rules and regulations relating to their liability
should they face such unfortunate events. Legal
proceedings can be time consuming and costly and
it is worthwhile to take adequate measures for site
safety and building stability than to endure legal
battles.
With the Code of Conduct for Engineers calling
for them to discharge their professional duties with
due care and to uphold the paramount safety,
health and interest of the public, readers and
engineers are welcome to contribute articles for the
upcoming issue of this publication with the theme
“Emerging Technology”.
Dato’ Sri Ir. Dr Roslan bin Md Taha
President BEM