Factory workers are driven home along National Road 5 in August. Hong Menea
Some 120 people in Kampong Chhnang province, including garment workers, transportation drivers and employees of Can Sports Shoes Co Ltd Cambodia were on Wednesday educated on road safety laws and practices, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) said on its Facebook page.
“Disseminating information and education on the Law on Road Traffic to drivers and employees serves to prevent them from being in traffic accidents,” the post quoted provincial police station representative Keth Yong as saying.
NSSF Road Safety Department adviser Preap Chan Vibol said traffic accidents involving garment workers continued to occur because some transportation vans were modified against approved technical standards.
“Workers, transportation drivers and all employees have to obey the Traffic Law,” he said.
Collective Union of Movement of Workers (CUMW) president Pav Sina told The Post on Wednesday that he supported the potentially life-saving initiative, but urged “stricter implementation of traffic laws”.
Sina asked whether drivers followed traffic laws, held proper documentation, or if vehicles were checked for safety.
“The majority of worker transportation vans are old and of bad quality. The vehicles are bought second-hand from auto-collision repair shops or modification garages.
“The type of vehicle used is as important as other factors that pose dangers when they are driven. Overloading vehicles beyond recommended standards endanger passengers, and drivers violate the law,” he said.
The NSSF quoted deputy national police chief Him Yan as saying that 488 people had died in traffic accidents in the third quarter of this year – 38 per cent of whom were workers.
Its Facebook page said NSSF director Ouk Sam Vichea urged relevant units to pay greater attention to the safety of workers during an early-November conference on improving workers’ transportation.
“Traffic accidents are a silent killer that costs lives while injuring and disabling people every day.
“No single ministry, institution or department can stop, reduce or eliminate this challenge on its own.
“Rather, we must cooperate to reduce accidents to a minimum and stop them from occurring,” Sam Vichea was quoted as saying at the conference.
In October, the NSSF announced that it had educated more than 16,312 people across the Kingdom on road safety at 243 separate events.
