BUTTERWORTH, March 10 — A "prime mover” driver was killed after he was crushed by a container at the container terminal here today.

Penang Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) director Hairozie Asri said the incident occurred at 10.13am when the 41-year-old local man was working.

"A team of investigators from Penang Dosh was dispatched to the scene and immediately conducted an investigation after receiving a notice about the incident.

"Based on our initial investigation, we found that the victim was a prime mover driver from one of the companies supplying prime mover engines at the container terminal. He was said to have made a U-turn on its way to send a container to a ship,” he said in a statement tonight.

He said the accident caused the victim’s head to be crushed in the driver’s cabin of the prime mover. He was declared dead at the scene by a medical officer.

Following the incident, Hairozie said Penang Dosh issued a stop work order involving the operations of prime movers and added that further investigation would be carried out by the agency’s investigating officer.

He also said legal action will be taken if there was a breach of regulations under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1994.

"We view every accident involving workers or the public seriously, the employer has full control of any activity at the workplace and is responsible for identifying dangers at the workplace, conducting risk evaluation and subsequently conducting effective risk control before employees carry out work activities,” he said.

According to him, such accidents could be avoided if employers carry out a comprehensive risk assessment and control according to the steps set out in the Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC). — Bernama