Malaysia (2)

Title of the survey

Census of mining industries

Organization responsible

Department of Statistics

Periodicity of the survey

Annual. As from 1993, every other year for mining, except petroleum and copper mining, which continue to be covered each year.

Objectives of the survey

The data are used mainly to determine the growth and distribution of the sector. They can also be used to determine the level of value added, input-output ratios and productivity, in addition to providing the basic data for economic projections and national accounts.

Main labour topics covered by the survey

Employment, wages and salaries.

Reference period

Employment: as at 31 December or the last pay period of the reference year. Wages and salaries: the calendar year, or the accounting year if this is different from the calendar year.

Coverage of the survey

Geographical

The whole country.

Industrial

Mining: the extracting, dressing and treatment of minerals occurring naturally, solids such as coal and ores, liquids such as crude petroleum, and gases such as natural gas.

Establishments

All establishments registered under the Industrial Co-ordination Act (ICA) 1975. All types of metal mining establishments are required to register with the Department of Mines each year, while petroleum mining establishments must register with Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS).

Persons

All persons engaged in the establishments covered.

Occupations

Not relevant.

Concepts and definitions

Employment

The data on employment are collected with respect to all persons engaged, including working proprietors and active business partners; unpaid family workers; full-time and part-time employees. Working proprietors and active business partners: individual proprietors and partners, part-time or full-time, who are actively engaged in the work of the establishments. The following are excluded: silent and inactive partners and members of the proprietors' family, unless they participate in the control and management of the business. Unpaid family workers: all persons of the household of any of the owners of the establishment who perform a specified job full-time or part-time, and who work for a minimum of one third of the normal working time of the establishment, but do not received payment either in cash or in kind for their work. Such workers generally receive food, shelter and other support as part of the household of an owner, but these provisions would continue whether they worked in the establishment or not. Employees are wage earners and salaried employees, whether working full-time or part-time, including apprentices, trainees, workers on probation, piece workers, commission agents, home workers, workers subcontracted from other companies or firms, workers from temporary work agencies, temporary, seasonal and casual workers and those temporarily absent because of paid vacation or holiday, lay off, strike or lockout, sickness or accident, and those temporarily present on the payroll during notice periods preceding retirement, resignation or dismissal. Young workers below a certain age are not included. Full-time employees: all workers who work for at least six hours a day, and for at least 20 days a month. Part-time employees: all workers who normally work for less than six hours a day or less than 20 days a month.

Earnings

Data are collected on wages and salaries, relating to the value of money payments, including bonuses, cash allowances, etc. made to all paid workers during the calendar year. They cover direct wages (pay for normal time worked or work done; premium pay for overtime, shift, night or holiday work; commissions paid to sales and other personnel; incentive pay (production bonuses, etc.); other regular bonuses; cost-of-living, house-rent and transport allowances; family allowances paid directly by the employer); remuneration for time not worked (annual leave, vacation; public holidays: other time off with pay); bonuses and gratuities paid regularly; irregularly paid bonuses and gratuities in cash (year-end, seasonal and similar bonuses; profit-sharing bonuses) and the value of earnings in kind (food and drink; fuel; free or subsidized housing; other). The gross amounts paid are recorded, before any deductions are made, e.g. for employees' contributions to the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF). Allowances to working proprietors, working partners and unpaid family workers are not included.

Wage/salary rates

Not relevant.

Hours of work

Not relevant.

International recommendations

The concept of earnings used in the census conforms to the most recent international recommendations.

Classifications

Industrial

The data are classified according to the Malaysia Industrial Classification (MIC) 1972 (updated 1979), at the five-digit level. If an establishment is involved in a number of activities, of which there is only one significant activity, the other activities are subsumed under this activity and the establishment is classified in the industry of the significant activity. If several significant activities are carried out, the establishment is requested to submit separate returns for each activity, and the data are classified accordingly. The MIC 1972 (updated 1979) is based on the International Standard Industrial Classification of all economic activities (ISIC), Rev.2, 1968, adapted to suit local conditions.

Occupational

Not relevant.

Others

The survey results are also classified according to the various characteristics of establishments and workers, as follows:

Sample size and design

Statistical unit

The sampling and reporting unit is the the establishment, defined as ideally an economic unit which engages under a single ownership or control in one or predominantly one kind of industrial activity at a single location. If an establishment is involved in more than one significant activity, in terms of value, it is requested to submit separate returns for each activity. If an establishment is involved in several activities, but only one of these is significant in terms of value, the rest of the activities are subsumed under this one activity.

Survey universe / sample frame

This is the list of establishments registered under the Industrial Coordination Act (ICA) 1975. Each year, a list of all metal mining establishments is obtained from the Department of mines, along with information on the type of mineral mined, location of the mine, total quantity of each mineral produced, total employment by the mine and stocks remaining at the end of the year at the mine. The list of petroleum mining establishments is obtained from PETRONAS. In 1992, 237 mining establishments were covered, of which only 181 were operating.

Sample design

The census is a complete enumeration of mining establishments.

Field work

Data collection

Data are collected by means of the Common questionnaire, a form that is used for most of the economic surveys conducted by the Department of Statistics. They are mailed to establishments in March following the census reference year. Respondents then have one month to complete and return them. If they do not meet the deadline, field visits are made to obtain completed returns. Every effort is made to elicit information from all mining establishments in the survey frame. Data from the Department of Mines are used to estimate the required data for non-responding establishments.

Survey questionnaire

Not available.

Substitution of sampling units

Not relevant.

Data processing and editing

Data are processed primarily by computer, which is used to validate the results on the basis of a set of specifications. Tables are produced by computer. Every effort is made to obtain actual data from the respondents themselves. It is normally possible to get 100 per cent response, which is also partly due to the small number of establishment involved. In the case of non-response, however, some of the information on particular establishments can be obtained from the details supplied by the relevant agencies (Department of Mines or PETRONAS). The rest of the information is imputed on the basis of previous years' data.

Types of estimates

Totals for the whole year. Part-time workers are identified and tabulated separately.

Construction of indices

Not relevant.

Weighting of sample results

Not relevant.

Adjustments

Non-response

Not relevant.

Other bias

The census results are not adjusted for any other bias.

Use of benchmark data

Not relevant.

Seasonal variations

Not relevant.

Indicators of reliability of the estimates

Coverage of the sampling frame

The survey universe covers all mining establishments.

Sampling error / sampling variance

Not relevant.

Non-response rate

In 1992, all 181 operating mining establishments covered in the census responded. The response rate is usually 100 per cent.

Non-sampling errors

Not available.

Conformity with other sources

The information supplied by the Department of Mines and PETRONAS to the Department of Statistics for the survey universe is used to check the reliability of the data collected through the census. There is no duplication of data collection, however, as the census covers much more comprehensive and detailed information than is provided through the compulsory registration with the Department of Mines and PETRONAS.

Available series

The following tables containing data relating to labour are prepared regularly for publication: Data at the aggregate level which do not appear in the publications are made available on request; however, individual data for the establishments covered in the census are confidential and governed by the Statistics Act, 1965 (Revised 1989).

History of the survey

The census began in 1963. There have been no major changes in the content of the survey questionnaire. However, the coverage of the census in terms of the number of mining establishments has reduced considerably as a result of the closure of many mines. The number of operating mines covered in the census dropped from 724 in 1963 to 181 in 1992. The contribution of non-petroleum mining has thus become far less significant. The Department of Statistics has therefore decided to conduct the Census of Mining Industries in alternate years, except for petroleum and copper mining industries, for which data will continue to be collected mainly to provide inputs for the compilation of the National Accounts.

Documentation

Department of Statistics: Annual Census of Mining and Stone Quarrying (Kuala Lumpur; annual). The survey results are normally released about 18 months after the reference year.

Confidentiality / Reliability criteria

Individual data for establishments are confidential, as set out in the Statistics Act, 1965 (Revised 1989).

Other information

Data supplied to the ILO for publication

Data on paid employment in mining and quarrying up to 1987 were last published in Table 6 of the 1992 Yearbook of Labour Statistics.