Kuala Lampur, Sept. 3 -- Recent reports about migrant workers living in overcrowded and poorly maintained accommodation should concern us for more than one reason.

It is certainly a housing and welfare issue.

But there is another dimension that deserves greater attention, which is called occupational safety and health matters.

We often think of workplace safety as something that begins when a worker enters a factory, construction site or even an office, and ends when the worker goes home.

In reality, the boundary is not always so clear.

Consider a worker who completes a long and physically demanding shift, only to return to overcrowded accommodation with poor ventilation, limited sleeping space, and inadequate facilities.

Can that w...