osh mAnAgemenT in WorKplAces: The legAl oBligATion

Rozanah Ab Rahman
| graduate school of management / faculty of economics and management department of management and marketing universiti putra malaysia | e-mail: rozanah@econ.upm.edu.my

it is

very important for the employers to manage occupational safety and health (osh) at their workplaces because a lack of management control often leads to the existence of causes of accidents and allows for the unsafe practices among the workers. managing osh at workplaces is vital as accidents have direct and indirect costs on the organizations. direct costs are considered to include lost of time, damage to work equipment and premises, lost of productivity and costs of replacement goods and services; while indirect costs may include costs of replacement for injured workers and costs arising from loss of commitment and motivation of workers involved in the accidents. Thus, if a safe and conducive environment is created by implementing safety and health at work, there will be an indirect cost saving as the workers efficiency and productivity will be enhanced under such favourable environment. obviously the safety and health aspects involving the workers cannot be disregarded as the law requires the employers to implement safety and health at work. The duty has been imposed by the law and the breach of the duties shall invite legal sanctions. The statute makes it an offence for an employer who fails to discharge their statutory duties prescribed under it.

As far as the legislation that regulates activities in the malaysian industry is concerned, the factories and machinery Act 1967 (fmA) and the occupational safety and health Act 1994 (oshA) constitute the primary legislation that govern safety and health of all employees in the industry. even though there are no particular provisions provided under the legislation that impose specific duties on the duty holder to manage safety and health at the workplaces, the legal provisions under the legislation generally intended to impose the legal duty on the occupiers or employers to practice osh management. looking into the provisions of the legislation, it is not silent on the important elements of the osh management system. under the osh management system, the most important elements include the policy, organization, planning and implementation, evaluation, and Action and improvement. With regards to the elements, relevant provisions relating to the employers duty can be found under the statute.

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Source: Department of Occupational Safety and Health

Occupational Safety Management System

and

Health

Under the Malaysian Standard: Occupational Safety and Health Management System-Guidelines (MS 1722:2003), the Policy element refers to the development of the organizations OSH policy statement and organizations structures and practices that insure active participation of workers in OSH arrangements.This means in an organization, the drawing up of the safety policy is a must where it should set out the standards of safety and health to be achieved by the organization. Under the OSHA 1994 the duty of the employer to formulate a safety and health policy is clearly provided in section 16 of the Act if the employer employs more than ve workers at any one time. The employers duty is not only to prepare the policy statement in writing but also to ensure that the policy is revised from time to time and carried out appropriately. It is also an obligation of the employer to notify his employees about the policy and any revision made to the policy, if any.

systems and documentation practices. In relation to this, under the OSHA 1994 the employer must establish a safety and health committee if there are forty or more persons employed at the workplace (section 30). This means the establishment of a safety and health committee is required to reect the OSH responsibilities and accountabilities structures. Through the committee the employer shall make arrangements in promoting and developing measures to ensure safety and health of the employees. Specically the role of the safety and health committee under the Act is to keep under review the measures taken to ensure safety and health of employees, investigate any matter and attempt to resolve the matter at the workplace (section 31). In terms of the organization element, the establishment of OSH training systems and documentation practices are also signicant and the OSHA 1994 requires the employer to arrange training programs to be provided for all employees without cost. The duty under the Act emphasizes on the management of the employees safety and health by the employer in all aspects of works through information, instruction, training and supervision (section 15(2)(c)). Apart from the training systems there are duty provisions under the Act which require the employer to establish and maintain the OSH management system documentation as provided under the Malaysian Standard (MS 1722:2003). The duties include the record-keeping for safety and health matters, recommendations made and decisions taken on issues relating to safety and health at work (Safety and Health Ofcer Regulations 1996); records on standards of exposure of chemicals hazardous to health (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health Regulations 2000); and records of all accidents, dangerous occurrences, occupational poisonings and occupational diseases occurred at the workplace (Notication of Accident, Dangerous Occurrence, Occupational Poisoning and Occupational Disease Regulations 2004). Besides Policy and Organization, the element of Planning and Implementation under the Malaysian Standard (MS 1722:2003) refers to the fulllment of the principles expressed in the OSH policy statement and the initial assessment of the OSH arrangements. This means the employer must establish hazard prevention and control procedures against identiable risks that are regularly reviewed, modied and continually improved. With

Source: Universiti Putra Malaysia Organization is another important element in the OSH management system. Under the same Malaysian Standard (MS 1722:2003), organization refers to the establishment of OSH responsibilities and accountabilities structures, training INTEGRATION & DISSEMINATION 12

effective planning and preparation, the risk factors will be identified and the injuries and fatalities can be reduced. The duty under the oshA 1994 which relates to planning and implementation is the employers obligation to identify the hazard or risk in the use or handling of plant and substances at the workplace, and subsequently provide available and suitable ways to remove or mitigate the hazard or risk (section 15(2)). evaluation as another element of the osh management system under the malaysian standard (ms 1722:2003) covers the measurement of the management system performance and the development of performance monitoring and measurement protocols, investigation practices for accidents, auditing methods and management review arrangements. for purpose of evaluation, there are many provisions under the oshA 1994 which oblige the employer to develop, establish and review the appropriate procedures to monitor, measure and record performance. The duty covers the appointment of a competent person like a safety and health officer to take charge of the safety and health matters at the workplace (section 29); and the formation of a safety and health committee to carry out the evaluation activities including the inspection of the workplace and investigation of cases of accident, near-miss accident, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning or occupational disease (safety and health committee regulations 1996). finally, the last element of the osh management system mentioned in the malaysian standard (ms 1722:2003) is Action and improvement.The element covers the exercise of preventive or corrective actions and continual improvement actions from performance monitoring and measurement, investigations, audits and management review. for purpose of action and improvement the employer must refer to the prescribed duties under the legislation and make relevant arrangements to achieve effective osh management through legal compliance. failure to do as such will result in the issuance of the improvement or the prohibition notice to the employers by the occupational safety and health officer appointed by the minister (section 48(1)). The purpose of the improvement notice is to require the employer to take measures to remove the danger or rectify any defect within the time given in the notice and the effect of the

prohibition notice is to prohibit the employer from using or operating the workplace, plant, substance or process if the defect is causing immediate danger to life or property (section 48(2)). As a concluding remark, the above discussions certainly reveal that the employers duty to practice osh management system at the workplace has been indirectly emphasized by the imposition of the legal duty upon the employer.Although there are no specific provisions under the legislation which emphasize on systematic management of the workplace, the legislation is not silent on the important elements of the osh management system as discussed herein.

References
Bill Promfet. 1994. The Road to Compliance. Safety Projects international (m) sdn Bhd, pp. 22-23. Factories and Machinery Act 1967. Malaysian Standard: Occupational Safety and Health management system-guidelines (ms 1722:2003), department of standards malaysia. Occupational Safety and Health (Notification of Accident, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning and occupational disease) regulations 2004. Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and Health committee) regulations 1996. Occupational Safety and Health (Safety and Health Officer) regulations 1996. Occupational Safety and Health (Use and Standards of exposure of chemicals hazardous to health) regulations 2000. Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

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