The Significance of Occupational Safety and Health and its Coverage

by the Local Newspapers.

Ahmad Naim Zaid

Abstract

This paper attempts to assess the coverage of the vernacular and English
newspapers on the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) issues during the month
of February 2010. The subjects of study are the Berita Harian and The New Straits
Times which are two main print news providers in Malaysia. The study involves
quantitative analysis and qualitative analyses of articles related to OSH in general
and using the results of the analysis, provide explanation (either by using rational
justification or supported by other sources) on the trend of reporting in the
newspapers regarding the issue in the study period. In general, news reporting on
OSH issues is indeed inadequate relative to number of cases investigated by
authorities. Only news which are deemed ‘thrilling’ for the readers are published.
The selection bias gives readers a false perception that OSH is not appalling enough
or not worthy of attention. This should not be the case as there are so many
involved in the workforce and they have to be kept informed on matters like OSH. It
is the objective of this study to explain the possible reasons for the lack of coverage
of the newspapers on OSH issues.

Introduction

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper
you are misinformed." - Mark Twain

"All I know is what I read in the newspaper. That makes me the most ignorant man
alive." - Will Rogers

What both these great writers understood was that when one gets most of one’s
news from a single source, one gets only what that source chooses to tell, and only
a single interpretation of the news. Since newspapers began there has been
controversy about bias in news reporting. The reality is that when a newspaper
reporter tells a story, what one reads - down to the word choices - is affected by the
opinions and feelings of the author, as well as those of the editor and perhaps even
the publisher. The newspaper does not always tell everything that the general
public needs to know. The newspaper, as a powerful source of information has for
long decided what should be important to tell the readers. Thus, a limited choice of
newspapers can make readers ignorant of the facts surrounding issues.

The statistics published by the Labor Ministry shows that workplace accidents, while
declining, are still beyond acceptable level. With 19 deaths overall in January 2010

1
it is a surprise that there has been little reporting done by the print media. The
figures from 1977 to 2000 shows an inconsistent trend of fatality cases with the
number of deaths from industrial accidents far exceeding the years before (Rampal
K.G., et al., 2002). With new technologies comes new hazards and the importance of
knowledge on Occupational Safety and Health is ever more critical.

Occupational health and safety is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with

protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment.
The goal of all occupational health and safety programs is to foster a safe work
environment

The reasons for establishing good occupational health and safety standards are
frequently identified as:

1. Moral - An employee should not have to risk injury or death at work, nor
should others associated with the work environment.

2. Economic - many governments realize that poor occupational health and

safety performance results in cost to the State (e.g. through social security
payments to the incapacitated, costs for medical treatment, and the loss of
the "employability" of the worker). Employing organizations also sustain costs
in the event of an incident at work (such as legal fees, fines, compensatory
damages, investigation time, lost production, lost goodwill from the
workforce, from customers and from the wider community).

3. Legal - Occupational requirements may be reinforced in civil law and/or

criminal law; it is accepted that without the extra "encouragement" of
potential regulatory action or litigation, many organizations would not act
upon their implied moral obligations.

Occupational Safety and Health is a relatively new issue for Malaysian workforce.
Many employees are just getting to grip with their rights in this area and the lack of
reporting by the print media which is still the main source of news in this country is
certainly not helping the cause. This study covered the vernacular newspapers
(Berita Harian and Utusan Malaysia) as well as the English newspapers (The Star
and News Straits Times). It is generally believed that the purpose of a newspaper is
to state the facts about what is going on in the world around us. However, media
has long been a way of manipulating the minds of the greater population into
holding certain values and opinions. The purpose of this study is to examine how
much coverage is given on OSH issues by these news providers during the month of
February and to analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the news reports.

Understanding the News Reporting: Newspaper Reporting General

Tendencies

2
Prior to analyzing the coverage of newspapers, fittingly there should be an
understanding of the nature of newspaper reporting and it roles as well as its
general attributes in theoretical and practical perspective. Newspapers are a
primary source of research in understanding the culture and ideas of a given
community within a historical context. The local press reports the history of the
community, day by day, or week by week. Generations have grown up with
significant portions of their knowledge derived from, reinforced by, or contradicted
in newspapers. Community newspapers, particularly those which reach an
interested and involved audience, are in a position to not only reflect the culture of
the day, but to ensure its continuity (Brown W. E. et al. , 1997). Newspaper, as a
mass media may counter the tendency to morselize1 personal experiences and help
legitimize the translation of private interests into collective attitudes (Mutz D. C.,
1994). The purpose of the newspaper has always been to keep people informed of
events around the world as well as those in our backyard, events that directly and
indirectly affect us and the rest of humanity and our planet. There is substantial
predictability of news preference patterns when stories are structured along four
news dimensions: significance, prominence of principals involved, normality, and
reward (Badii et al., 1980).

What is news? News can be defined as anything that interests a large part of the
community and has never been brought to its attention before. In other words,
news is what people are talking about. News is new. In other words, news is a
change in the status quo. But does a change in the status quo guarantee that an
event is newsworthy? News is not just a change in the status quo. It is a change of
consequence in the status quo. In a very real sense, news also can be defined as
what reporters and editors say it is. They are the gatekeepers, allowing the
accounts of some events, but not others, to reach the reading public. And there are
other factors that sometimes can determine whether an event is news. These
include the prejudice of the management, the size of the paper, pressure from
advertisers and the news hole, or the space allotted to news.

Still, news professionals agree on at least seven main factors that help them
determine if an event has consequence, if it is news. These are:

Impact • How many people does the event

affect?
• How seriously does it affect them?
Proximity • An event will be more important if
is closer to the readers.
• An earthquake in a far-off land is
not as interesting as one that is
close to home
Timeliness • Is the event fresh?
• Is it new?
1
Isolated personal experience, attitudes or beliefs.
3
 • The news must be timely to be of
use to readers.
Prominence • Names make news, and big names
make big news.
• Ordinary people are intrigued by
the doings of the rich and famous.
Novelty • This is the new in news, the
unusual.
• The "firsts," "lasts" and "onlys"
have been the staples of the news
business for many years.
Conflict • Conflict has been the currency of
great literature, drama and
movies for all time.
Audience • Who is the audience?
• The answer to that question helps
determine whether an event is
news at all, and if it is, where it
will be played in the paper.

The best newspapers are diligent, unbiased, and serve no one but their readers, the
general public - not always telling them what they want to know, but what they
need to know with the most important element being substance. The strength of a
newspaper was to report true facts and not fiction and not dramatize an event to
mislead the public. Not to be threatened or bullied into holding back the truth.
However, it appears that newspapers do not always hold on to these good qualities
of past years. There are times when the balance of writing an article to capture
headlines that may not be the truth or only part of the truth is to be printed to get
people to buy their papers.

Newspaper features are used throughout the newspaper, but some sections use
features more often and very differently from others. The front section, generally
containing the spot news of the day from state, national, and international sources,
uses features for balance. Features in these sections offer insight into the day's
newsmakers and major events. Features are used as sidebars to supplement
straight reporting.

The local section of most daily newspapers will often run features on unusual
individuals or events of community interest. Certainly local sidebar features are also
used.

In lifestyle and living sections, editors devote most of the day's space to a wide
variety of feature materials. These stories focus on home how-to-do-it subjects,
consumer and shopping ideas, profiles, health and medicine suggestions, child care
news, gardening, cooking and food ideas, and much more. In some newspapers,
entertainment news is part of lifestyle coverage, but this category of news
4
creates a different set of feature needs for newspapers. Writers specializing in
entertainment provide features on individuals, reviews of their performances, and
insight into their creative activities.

Sports sections provide feature content to break the routine of game or event
stories. Features also supplement spot sports coverage. Regular readers look for
features such as profiles on coaches and players, descriptions of facilities, and in-
depth analysis of outstanding strategies and performances.

Business sections have experienced growth in many daily newspapers in recent

years. Even newspapers that do not have separate business sections -- such as
special tabloids on Mondays -- still devote considerable space to business news and
features.

Feature material is found occasionally on the opinion or editorial pages also. It is

often in the form of a column or other type of opinion essay, but the same general
principles of feature writing have been used to write the feature column. These
creative columnists and essayists use satire for humor, or write a profile of an
individual, or give how-to-do-it advice on a subject.

Newspapers have outlets for magazine-style writing. The Sunday magazine

supplements of major daily newspapers depend a great deal on solid feature essay
writing of traditional magazine length each week to build regular readership.
Feature subjects are wide ranging in nature. From humor columns to portraits of
individuals to accounts of historical events to chronologies of conflicts, these
articles are the foundations of Sunday magazines. Sunday magazines also include
shorter departmentalized features, such as listings of events, reviews of new
restaurants, and summaries of new products on the market.

There are over 30 newspapers and tabloids in Malaysia, published mainly in Malay,
English, Chinese and Tamil. The most prominent newspapers include the The Star,
New Straits Times, The Sun, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, Sin Chew Jit Poh and
Nanyang Siang Pau. Below are the figures of the share of readers for the major
newspapers in Malaysia;

5
 LANGUA CIRCULATI
GE ON
Berita Harian Malay 350,000
Utusan Malaysia Malay 240,000
China Press Chinese 210,000
New Straits Times English 190,000
Nanyang Siang Pau Chinese 183,800
Malaysian Nanban Tamil NA Major
Papers in Petaling Jaya
include:
LANGUA CIRCULATI
GE ON
New Life Post (every other
Chinese 231,000
week)
Sin Chew Jit Poh (daily) Chinese 227,070
The Star (daily) English 220,490

Newspaper circulation in 2002: Source Malaysia Country Report (Media)

Occupational Safety and Health in Malaysia: Where Are We Now, Where

We Are Heading

Despite the gradual improvements over the last decade, statistics (see Appendix
2)indicate that the number of workplace accidents are still alarming. In 1990, before
the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was introduced, the workers’ safety
did not receive its deserved attention and the number of occupational accidents
were very high. Then, in 2002, the figures drop significantly to 81,810 and improved
even more to 58,321 in 2006. That is how far we have come in promoting OSH. But
these figures should not be considered as absolute. There are still many more
businesses not registered with DOSH and thus accidents at their sites are not
included. This is acknowledged by then Deputy Human Resource Minister Maznah
Mazlan in a news report by Bernama on May 28, 2009.

Malaysia put a special emphasis on OSH issues due to its speed of economic
development. There is a growing concern about safety and health at work. Until
1994, Malaysia still did not have adequate provisions to sure safety and health of
employees at the workplace. They were merely the traditional approach legislation
meant for technical aspects and lacked the human aspects of ensuring safety and
health at workplaces. Thus, the promulgation of the Occupational Safety and Health
Act 1994 (OSHA)2 has made further provisions for securing the safety, health and
welfare of any connection with the activities of the person at work. It is based on
the concept of self-regulation whereby the Act places certain duties on employers,
2
See appendix 4
6
employees, self-employed persons, manufacturers, designers and suppliers. It also
places emphasis on the prevention of accidents, ill health and injury. This is the
main Act which we hope can help to reduce occupational incidents and accidents in
the Malaysia. OSHA is mainly enforced by DOSH with the assistance of several main
agencies like NIOSH (mostly training) and National Council of Occupational Safety
and Health (NCOSH) and many more supporting agencies3.

While the improvement in OSH in Malaysia is admirable, an accident rate of 7 out

1000 workers is still beyond acceptable. The industrial accidents for every 1,000
workers have declined from 15.4 in 1995 to 7.4 in 2003. However, if one compare
this rate with that of the developed nation such as Sweden, Japan, South Korea and
European countries, there is still big task ahead to get the right figure. According to
SOCSO the number of recipients for compensation has increased 36 percent from
182,763 person in 1995 to 247,790 person in 2003. In 2003 alone SOCSO has paid
about RM 754 million, a staggering 161 percent increased from RM 289 million in
1995, as compensation for the industrial accidents. For the year 2004 it is estimated
that the amount of compensation could reach over RM 800 million payable to over
260,000 recipients (Fong, 2004). Going by the Accident Iceberg Theory, the hidden
or indirect costs of an accident is eight to 33 times more than that of its apparent or
direct costs (Fong, 2003). Therefore, just imagine the amount of hidden costs that
we spent yearly to finance these accidents and diseases. Malaysian government
aims to bring down the ratio of occupational mishaps to 3 for every 1,000 workers
before the country becomes fully developed. DOSH is carrying out many programs
to ensure that OSH becomes a major concern for employers and employees. The
signs are positive but still much are to be done.

Safety in the workplace works most effectively with a combination of employer

attentiveness and employee responsibility. Costs, both financial and physical, can
be decreased and injuries reduced with proper training, employer involvement and
company-wide adherence to OSHA rules and guidelines. Ensuring safety is
important not only for each individual company and worksite, but for industries and
national concerns as well. There is no doubt that Malaysia is well on its way to
becoming an industrialized nation by 2020.The challenge is to ensure that we do
not pay the price, as experienced by some other countries, of deterioration of our
environment and health.The Government has enacted reasonable and practicable
regulations which industry has accepted as a challenge. At the same time industry
has bolstered the Government's efforts with its own initiatives to improve not only
the workplace but also the environment. Unresolved issues however still remain.
They will have to be tackled by the Government and industry to ensure that the
economy grows with a safe and healthy human capital.

3
See Appendix 1
7
Research Findings

Quantitative analysis:

NEWS Font Article Picture Page Column Case

size size locatio highlig
heading n ht

SOCSO on Times medium No 21 (at National 1

Trail of new middle) news
10,000 roman,
Traders 26

Charged Times big yes 14 prime 6

with new news
murdering roman,
maid 26
(muntik
case)

2 missing Times big yes 9 prime 4

after raid new news
by armed roman,
men 26

5 injured Times medium yes 8 prime 1

in fire and new news
rescue roman,
drill 26

Falling Times medium yes 28 National 1

excavator new news
kills teen roman,
26

Lee:Teach Cambria medium yes 10 (top Prime 1

kids safety (Heading right) news
early s) 26

8
TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

During the month of February 2010, there were seven newspaper report reporting
news on issues related to OSH. A notable finding is that only News Straits Times
have articles on OSH issues during the period of study totaling 14 articles. Out of
the 14 articles, 6 reported occupational accident cases, 1 on the importance of OSH
education, 6 on a maid murder case by her employer and 1 on SOCSO. Only 2 of the
reports were on a big column with none at the front page namely the maid murder
case and the ship armed robbery. Generally, the reports are at prime news section
or at national news section. Most articles are accompanied by a picture but none
seem to be significant or worthy of attention enough to warrant a front page
column. No OSH articles are observed from vernacular newspapers. It is an
indication of how little attention OSH gets from the media. Even English newspapers
report only 6 for the entire month of February. The murder case of Muntik, an
Indonesian maid, received quite some coverage by NST with 6 new reports on its
trial updates. However, with the maid industry not specified under the OSH Act, the
articles are analyzed only due to the fact that it involves the employer as the
defendant. Another noteworthy case is the kidnapping of 2 sailors during an armed
robbery by pirates which was reported 4 times during the month. However, these
cases are more appropriate to be classified as criminal cases rather than cases of
occupational accidents. With the exception of the two most covered topics, the
others relate directly to OSH but none of them occupy significant columns in the
newspaper. The summary of the analysis is as in Table 1.

Qualitative analysis:

NEWS Issues Agency Spoke Target Purpose issues

addressed n by group

SOCSO businessmen SOCSO Roslan employers To remind employers

on Trail (employers) Ramli and in Terengganu of
of 10,000 have yet to employee their duty to register
Traders register with s with SOCSO.
SOCSO

Charged Abuse of employer Nashai employer To remind employers

with power by ri and about the rights of
murderin employers Mohd employee employee.
g maid Nawi s
(Muntik

9
case)

2 missing Safety at employer Roy employer, To expose the

after raid workplace goh employee activity of pirates, to
by armed must be tight and highlight the need
men and secure marine for more safety
from security agency measures for sailors.
threats.

5 injured Negligence federal fire - employer, To emphasize the

in fire and and rescue employee importance of safety
and carelessness. departmen and public measures in
rescue t dangerous working
drill (employer) conditions.

Falling Safety and employer Jason employer, To highlight

excavato health at (construct Gerald employee negligence and
r kills workplace or) John and public carelessness as a
teen must be one cause for workplace
thing do first, accidents and the
although is importance of
human error. setting up a hazard
free work
environment.

Lee: OSH NIOSH Lee Employer, the importance to

Teach education Lam employee, inculcate awareness
kids Thye, education on OSH to children
safety the institution from young ages
early head s
of
NIOSH

TABLE 2: SUMMARY OF QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

The most highlighted topic in OSH in the month of February 2010 is the maid
murder case. The case is about a murder of an Indonesian maid named Muntik by
her employer. While the case’s relation to OSHA is unclear, due to the fact that it
involves the employer and the employee, the study found it appropriate to include
in this paper. The case was highlighted from the beginning of its reporting and the
updates on its trial are ongoing. It serves as a reminder for other employers that the
10
workers have rights and are not to be abused. The case has also stirred a lot of
debates and caused some strain in the relations of the two countries (augmenting
the existing unease due to other past cases). International Labour International
(ILO) standards on occupational safety and health under convention No. 161 and
accompanying Recommendation No. 171 provide that occupational health services
should progressively cover all workers. They should be entrusted with preventive
functions and be responsible for advising employers, workers and their
representatives on the requirements for establishing and maintaining a safe and
healthy working environment which will facilitate optimal physical and mental
health and the adaptation of work to the capabilities of workers in the light of their
state of physical and mental health.

Then there was the news of kidnapping of 2 sailors by armed robbers identified as
pirates. The highlight of this issue was the importance of a more tight security and
safety measures in offshore activities and the rising case of robbery by pirates on
ships. It shows that not only the big ships are targets and the pirates are so much
more sophisticated in their methods these days. OSH measures (specific to marine
activities) must be in place to ensure that ships are ready for such contingencies.
However, these two cases are more towards criminal cases rather than OSH issues.

Two cases with direct relation to OSH are the firefighter case and the excavator
case. The former is about the injuries sustained by 5 firefighters (firemen and a City
Hall rescue worker) during a fire and rescue drill. The spokesman in this article was
the federal fire and rescue department itself. The article highlights the failure of
equipments and inattention as the cause for the accident. The article managed to
propagate the importance of safety measures in dangerous working conditions and
the need for employees to adhere to safety procedures.

The latter case is about a teen worker killed by a falling excavator. This shows how
risky it is to work in construction industry and the figures of accidents4 support this.
While the accident was mainly caused by human error, it emphasizes the
importance of setting up a hazard free work environment.

Another report was on the SOCSO’s tracking unregistered employers in Terengganu.

SOCSO director for state of Kuala Terengganu Roslan Ramli stated that the
organization will take stern action against employers that have yet to register with
them. The purpose of the report was to remind employers their duties to register
with SOCSO so that if their employees are injured during work, they can be
compensated and the failure to do so means they are depriving their workers of
their benefits if they don’t register with SOCSO. It also shows that there are still
many employers failing to do so with 10000 in Terengganu alone.

The last report is on the call by NIOSH chairman, Lee Lam Thye for OSH to be taught
from early ages and how important it is to inculcate awareness so that when the
4
See appendix 2 and 3
11
children enter the workforce they are fully aware of OSH issues. Lee also launched a
website of OSH for children.

Discussions of Findings

First and foremost it is important to note that from the quantitative analysis there
are only 6 reports focusing on workplace accidents. If yearly trend5 is of any
measure, then we can expect more of the same every year with only little
improvements each year. Thus, referring to January 2010 figures 6 as released by
the Ministry of Human Resource (MHR), the paper assume that figures in February
not fluctuate too much from in January. Comparatively, the amount of reports
regarding occupational accidents is well below the death numbers at workplace
reported by newspapers. The lack of coverage is explainable by many hypotheses
backed by reliable figures and statements;

1. OSH is not a focal issue during the study period

The most notable limitation of this study is the timeframe which only one month.
The period may be too short to come out with enough news findings on OSH issues.
This can be another probable explanation for lack of findings regarding issues
related to OSH. An analysis of news reporting within a month cannot explain the
trend in general. It is probable that the newspapers report more on OSH issues in
other months and it just happened that there was not much issues in OSH to be
published. However, observations suggest that the trend is very much alike in any
other months. Only when there is a case serious enough then there would be news
on OSH.

2. OSHA implementation in Malaysia is a success

In 2001 61% of the workplaces have OSH policies, 83% of workplaces have safety
and health committees, 86% of major installation have health and safety
management system, 38% of non-major installations have health and safety
management systems and 71% of Chemical Industry Council (CICM) members have
“responsible care” programs. Since the introduction of Safety Induction for
Construction Workers (SICW) was implemented in 1999, there are 240,000 green
card holders up to 2001.
There have also an increasing number of OSH competent persons as required by
OSHA 1994. As of 2001, there are about 1200 Safety and Health Officer (SHO), 30
5
Refer appendix 2
6
Refer appendix 3
12
noise competent persons, 81 chemical health risk assessors and 124 occupational
health doctors. The number of OSH practitioner will be increasing in the coming
years. That is a statement by DOSH7, referring to its effort in promoting OSH and
the enforcer of Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994 (Act 514). (Zoe
Phoon, 2001)

DOSH has also increased the frequency of inspection under the Inspection and Audit
Program for the small and medium sized industries from 2002 until 2006. Each year,
there will be about 2500 to 3400 small and medium sized industries scheduled to be
inspected. This is due to the fact that around 90% of the private business
establishments in Malaysia are from the small and medium sized industries. Up to
June 30, 2002, there are 3,340 notices of improvement/ prohibition being issued and
49 has been prosecuted in court (Fong Chan Onn, 2007). Under the supervision of
the MHR, institution providing various OSH services could be the driving force to
enhance the implementation of OSHA 1994. These institutions are DOSH; SOCSO;
Workers and Environmental Health Unit, Ministry of Health; NIOSH; Universities;
Society of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Malaysia Medical Association
(MMA); Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health (MSOSH); Malaysian
Occupational Health Nurses Association (MOHNA);OSH Department in Malaysian
Trades Union Congress (MTUC); Various consumer and environmental groups such
as Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and Consumer Association of Penang (CAP).

Despite the efforts and subsequent improvements, statistics (refer appendix 2 and
3) show that the figures of workplace accidents suggest that more have to be done.
Under-recognition of occupational diseases is reported by data collected by the
Information and Documentation System (IDS) Unit of the Ministry of Health, on the
total probable occupational diseases among hospital admissions for the years 1999-
2003. This data indicates that, on the average, about 103 cases of probable
occupational disease occur for every 10,000 hospital admissions - about 1% of all
admissions. (Hashim SB et al, 2005)Meanwhile the improvements are estimable.
The number and rate of work-related accidents reported to SOCSO from 1995-2004
shows a decrease in the work-related accident rate from 15.4 accidents per 1,000
workers in 1995 to 6.7 accidents per 1,000 workers in 2004.(NIOSH, 2005). A
summary of trends involving occupational accidents is as below;

• Number of total cases reported: 2003 (81,003), 2004 (77,742), 2005

(70,690), 2006 (68,008), 2007 (56,339) – decreasing trend

• Number of death: 2003 (907), 2004 (1073), 2005 (1291), 2006 (1292), 2007
(755) – increasing from year 2003 to 2006 and a sudden decline in 2007

• Number of disablement: 2003 (16765), 2004 (17546), 2005 (18744), 2006

(18257), 2007 (9555) – increasing from year 2003 to 2005, slight decrease in
2006 and a sudden decrease in 2007
7
Department of Safety and Health (refer appendix 1)
13
 • Highest accident rate from manufacturing sector, followed by Wholesale and
Retail Trade, Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles and Personal and
Household, Agriculture,

Forestry, Hunting and Fishing, construction, Financial Intermediation and,

Transport, Storage and Communication.

Source: Labour Department of Peninsular, Sabah, Sarawak and Social Security

Organization (SOCSO), Ministry of Human Resources(see Appendix 2)

The annual total reported cases shows a decreasing trend but the death toll shows a
yearly augment with the exception of a sudden decline in 2007. The number of
disabled from occupational accident causes shows that the trend is increasing until
2006 and in 2007 there was a sharp decline. From the statistics above, the most
notable point is that the year 2007 marks an improvement in OSH results. The
cause is not clearly stated but it is a complement for the effort of all relevant
agencies. With yearly data for 2008 and 2009 unavailable, to conclude that OSHA
implementation in Malaysia is success is premature. In January, due to occupational
accidents, there were 15 cases of permanent disability reported, 19 deaths, and
144 cases involving non-permanent disability as investigated by the MHR. The
number is still relatively very high. Statistics revealed that rapidly industrializing
countries reported high fatal accident rates at the workplace, and annually it was
estimated that fatality rates for every 100,000 workers in countries like Indonesia,
Thailand and South Korea were between 12 and 17 cases, while the figure for
Malaysia stood at 12. Accidents at the workplace in developed countries like Japan,
Canada and Australia were, however, much lower at three fatalities per 100,000
workers (Bernama, 2001). Infrastructure construction and industrialization bring
new situations to surface. There are more challenges to overcome, new risks to
eliminate and more hazards to be identified and dealt with. Thus, to explain the lack
of coverage by local newspapers on OSH issues by hypothesizing that OSHA is
already a success is not acceptable.

3. Employers did not report on cases

SMEs are at least 90 percent of all businesses in Malaysia. They are the major
employer in this country. Because of age-old practices, financial reasons or perhaps
due to ignorance, the managers of SMEs do not place as much importance to the
health of their workforce or the safety considerations of their operations. They seem
to think that OSH practices and legal compliance are only for the Multinationals.
They thus do not consider OSH practices and issues important enough to warrant
their attention. It is no surprise therefore that the SOCSO industrial injury figures
reveal that most of the recorded accidents occur in SMEs. Statistics also indicated
that 80-90 percent of the accidents reported to SOCSO involved small and medium
size industries (SMIs) (Zaliha Hj Hussin et al). The recorded workplace accidents are
only the tip of the iceberg - there are many more that go unrecorded (MOSHPA,

14
2009). The numbers of work-related diseases are small compared to occupational
accidents, and may reflect underreporting due to failure to recognize the work-
relatedness of medical diagnoses, non-reporting of diagnosed occupational diseases
to the appropriate agencies or failure to capture occupational morbidities occurring
among workers in small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal economy
(Hashim S.B. et al, 2005). Employers may be reluctant to report on cases unless the
cases are too obvious to hide due to several reasons;

1. Fearing legal consequences that may follow

2. The effect of reports on the organization’s image

3. The cost involved upon reporting

4. The impact on project implementation and its timeline

There are still many firms not registered with SOCSO and DOSH as reported by NST
on February 25, 2010 and Bernama in 2009. The accidents that went unreported
could be higher bearing in mind that 80 per cent of Malaysian construction workers
(NSTP, 2002) are foreigner where some of them might have worked without or with
expired work permits. There are still a large number of employers failing to comply
to the OSHA that requires them to report on an accident case to DOSH within 7 days
of occurrence. According to records of 2008, only 1500 cases were reported to
DOSH compared to 54134 cases handled by SOCSO (Harian Metro,2009). Research
in United Kingdom (UK) by Health and Safety Executives(HSE) has shown that the
accidents reporting level in construction industry is only at 55 per cent (Mohd Saidin
Misnan et al, 2008)). If even the relevant authorities have no data on the
unregistered firms, the press cannot be expected to know more. However, with the
recorded case reaching more than 50,000 every year, it is still a surprise that the
print media let most go unnoticed.

4. Selective bias in news reporting

The most important nature of new reporting is that it reports only news that can
attract readers (Deuze M., 2005). Newspapers report news that is deemed worthy of
attention. Some news like the maid issue receive more attention than the others. An
issue like the murder of Muntik (a maid) involves the diplomatic relationship
between Malaysia and Indonesia. It also entails many perceptions on both sides
towards another. With Indonesia only next door and so many of their labors working
in Malaysia, a case of abuse like the Muntik case can strain the relationship. Thus,
the media plays the role to show that Malaysia is doing all it can for justice to
prevail in this case and thus help to cool down the already heated bond.

Accidents like the fallen excavator case and the armed robbery on a sailor boat
received attention due to the casualty and kidnapping involved. This shows that the
media waits for an issue serious enough to be reported. They do not cover all. It is

15
understood that the criteria for news to be published is as discussed in the previous
section. At times the newspapers themselves should not be held accountable alone
for being selective as the readers mostly want to read ‘catchy’ and ‘hot’ news only.
The newspapers, being a form of business, are only satisfying wants and demands
of the readers.

Conclusions and Suggestions

From the findings and discussions, we can conclude that OSH has not been given its
due attention by the newspapers. Even the media at large has not done enough in
reporting on OSH issues. The print media, still the preference of Malaysian for
information can and should do a lot more to make known the hazards at workplace
and to promote OSH among employers and employees.

While the study is limited by the time frame of one month, observations suggest
that news reporting on OSH is very much the same in any other months. This
applies to most newspapers who normally report only news that can catch the
attention of readers. It is true that news is new and accidents at workplace can be
repetition. Nevertheless, news reporting is not just about new developments; it is
also about disseminating information and truth. The newspapers need to serve as a
compliment to the efforts of DOSH, NIOSH, SOCSO etc as the chief information
centre. People do not browse DOSH’s website everyday but the read newspapers
almost daily. People are also much less attracted to OSH journal articles than
newspapers. What the study have found and observations from everyday readings
is that newspapers want ‘hot’ topics and a topic can only be ‘hot’ in OSH if it involve
the large companies or it accidents involve severe injuries or casualties. People do
not go to work to get hurt and even one casualty is one too many. Newspapers
need to cover more on OSH issues if not all by covering cases of occupational
accidents and complement OSH promotion by OSH agencies by continuously
highlighting its importance. News is news when it has consequences and repetition
is the most effective way of promotion. All in all there has to be depth and
continuity in news reporting on OSH issues for the campaign for a safer and
healthier workplace to be effective.

Reference
16
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid , Bachan Singh (2008), Causes Of
Accidents At Construction Sites Malaysian Journal of Civil Engineering 20(2) : 242 - 259 (2008)
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid, Muhd Zaimi Abd Majid, Bachan Singh, Causes of Accidents at
Construction Sites, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Ahmadon Bakri, Rosli Mohd Zin, Mohd Saidin Misnan & Abdul Hakim Mohammed (2006),
Occupational Safety And Health (Osh)Management Systems: Towards Development Of Safety
And Health Culture Proceedings of the 6th Asia-Pacific Structural Engineering and Construction
Conference (APSEC 2006), 5 – 6 September 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Badii, Naiim; Ward, Walter J. (1980)The Nature of News in Four Dimensions, Journalism
Quarterly, v57 n2 p243-48 Sum 1980

Bernama (2006) Malaysian Workforce Needs To Inculcate OSH Culture [online]available

www.bernama.com
Bernama January 18, 2010 Kes Kemalangan Industri Tetap Membimbangkan Walaupun Angka
Berkurangan [online]available www.bernama.com
Bernama January 18, 2010 Number Of Industry Accident Cases Still Worrying [online]available
www.bernama.com
Bernama may 28, 2009, Kadar Kemalangan Di Tempat Kerja Masih Tinggi [online]available
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/index.php
Brown W. E.. and Botero C. E. (1997) An exhibit based upon the by presentation delivered at the
Library of Congress on May 22, 1997. http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/digital/

Crystal, D. & Davy, D. (1969) Investigating English Style. Longman, London.

Deuze M. (2005), What is journalism?- Professional Identity And Ideology Of Journalists

Reconsidered, Journalism, Vol. 6, No. 4, 442-464
Domke D., Perlmutter D., Spratt M. (2002), The Primes Of Our Times?- An Examination Of The
‘Power’ Of Visual Images, Journalism, Vol. 3, No. 2, 131-159

Ettema J. S. (2005), Crafting cultural resonance: Imaginative power in everyday journalism,

Journalism, Vol. 6, No. 2, 131-152

Fong Chan Onn – Minister Of Human Resource (2003) Speech In National Conference &
Exhibition on Occupational Safety and Health (COSH 2003) Sunway Pyramid Convention
Centre, [online]available http://www.mohr.gov.my
Fong Chan Onn – Minister Of Human Resource (2004) Speech In Majlis Penyampaian Faedah
Perkeso Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, [online]available http://www.mohr.gov.my

17
Fong Chan Onn – Minister Of Human Resource (2007) Speech In Seminar Perdana Keselamatan
Dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan, , Human Resource Minister At Tapak Bina Pusat Konvensyen
Antarabangsa Putrajaya, 29 Januari 2007
Harian Metro 11 Ogos 2009 Ramai Majikan Tidak Lapor Kemalangan Di Tempat Kerja
[online]available http://www.hmetro.com.my
Harian Metro 67,000 Nahas Di Tempat Kerja [online]available
http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Friday/Setempat/20090508065945/Article/
index_html
Hashim SB, Amin FB, Khalid HM. Malaysia Country Report, WHO/ILO Meeting on
Strengthening Occupational Health and Safety, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 2005
Hillel Nossek (2004), Our News and their News: The Role of National Identity in the Coverage
of Foreign News, Journalism, Vol. 5, No. 3, 343-368

International Labour Organization (ILO) 2005 Facts On Safety at Work [online]available

www.ilo.org/safework
http://safetyatworkblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/09/accountabilty-for-industrial-accidents-in-
malaysia/
http://www.aboutsafety.com/article.cfm?id=639
http://www.smibusinessdirectory.com.my/smisme-
editorial/more/safetyhealthenvironmentalissues/388-occupational-safety-a-health-for-
smissmes.html
http://www.smibusinessdirectory.com.my/smisme-editorial/small-enterprises/484-occupational-
safety-and-health.html (statistic accident)
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/164066/car_accidents/significant_factors_regarding
_industrial_accidents.html
International Labour International (ILO) standards on occupational safety and health
Keeble, R. (1994) Newspapers Handbook. Routledge
Labour Department of Peninsular, Sabah, Sarawak and Social Security Organization (SOCSO),
Ministry of Human Resources
Metro 67,000 NAHAS DI TEMPAT KERJA [online]available
http://www.hmetro.com.my/Current_News/myMetro/Friday/Setempat/20090508065945/Article/
index_html
Mohd Nizam Jemoin “Status and future tasks of OHS in Malaysia”, Department of Community
Health, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

18
Mohd Nizam Jemoin, Status and future tasks of OHS in Malaysia
Mohd Saidin Misnan, Abdul Hakim b. Mohammed, Wan Yusoff Wan Mahmood,Syamsul
Hendra Mahmud & Mat Naim Abdullah (2008), Development Of Safety Culture In The
Construction Industry: The Leadership And Training Roles, 2nd International Conference On
Built Environment In Developing Countries (Icbedc 2008)
Mohd Saidin Misnan, Abdul Hakim b. Mohammed, Wan Yusoff Wan Mahmood, Syamsul
Hendra Mahmud & Mat Naim Abdullah, Development of Safety Culture in the Construction
Industry: The Leadership and Training Roles, Department of Quantity Surveying, Faculty of
Built Environment, Department of Property Management, Faculty of Geo-information Science
and Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
MOSHPA Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health Professional's Association (2009)
homepage at http://moshpa.org/default.html
Mutz D. C. (1994), Contextualizing Personal Experience: The Role of Mass Media, The journal
of politics, vol. 56, No.3, August 1994,pp. 689-714
Mysarawak Mar 23, 2010, Kemalangan tempat kerja di S’wak tinggi [online]available
http://www.mysarawak.org/
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) (2006), Industrial accidents
trends, [online]available http://www.niosh.com.my/statistik.html last accessed 28 march 2006.
New Straits Times 25 March 2001 Industrial Accident Cases on the Rise [online]available
www.nst.com.my
New Straits Times September 3, 2003, NST comes out tops in coverage of OSH issues
New Straits Times, 10-23-2004, Proposal to make OSH elective varsity subject

Occupational Safety and Health 1994, (Act 514)

Rampal KG, Aw TC, Jefferelli SB (2002). Occupational Health In Malaysia. In LaDou J
(Ed).Occupational Medicine in Industrializing Countries. (pp 409-425). Philadelphia:Hanley &
Belfus,Inc.
Roumeen Islam, The Right To Tell: The Role Of Mass Media In Economic Development
[online]available http://books.google.com.my/books?
id=ViGUhxwadJcC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false
What Is Occupational Safety And Health Act ?, [online]available
http://www.lawyerment.com.my/library/doc/empl/osha//
What Is Social Security Organization ?, [online]available
http://www.lawyerment.com.my/library/doc/empl/socso/

19
Zaliha Hj Hussin, Kamaruzaman Jusoff, Soon Yew, Ju, Lai Kuan, Kong, Accidents in the Food-
Manufacturing in Small and Medium Sized Malaysian Industries
Zoe Phoon (2001), NIOSH Malaysia To Bring OSH Levels To Greater Height. An interview
with National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia. Executive Director, Ir Dr
Johari Basri [online]available http://www.aboutsafety.com/section.cfm?id=80

APPENDIX 1 - Department/Agencies Related to Human Resource

Management

Department:

• Manpower Department
Jabatan Tenaga Manusia (JTM), dahulunya dikenali sebagai Jabatan Tenaga
Rakyat (JTR) telah ditubuhkan pada tahun 1967. Pertukaran nama berkenaan
20
 adalah disebabkan oleh fungsinya yang difokuskan kepada aktiviti program
latihan kemahiran sahaja.
Pertukaran nama ini berlaku pada awal tahun 2000. Diawal penubuhan JTR, ia
berfungsi sebagai pusat melatih tenaga mahir untuk pasaran industri
tempatan, mengumpul maklumat buruh, dan menempatkan pencari-pencari
pekerjaan disektor swasta.
• Department of Skills Development
Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran sebelum ini dikenali dengan nama Majlis
Latihan Vokasional Kebangsaan adalah salah satu agensi di bawah
Kementerian Sumber Manusia yang dipertanggungjawabkan untuk
menyelaras dan memantau latihan kemahiran dan membangunkan kerjaya
dalam bidang kemahiran selaras dengan berkuatkuasanya Akta
Pembangunan Kemahiran Kebangsaan 2006 (Akta 652) mulai pada 1
September 2006.
• DEPARTMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (DOSH)
The OSHA is enforced by DOSH, a government department under the Ministry
of Human Resources Malaysia. DOSH will ensure that employers, self-
employed persons and all employees practice a good working culture and
comply with existing legislation, guidelines and codes of practice through its
enforcement and promotional activities.

Specifically, DOSH’s policies are formulated with the following objectives:

• To prepare and preserve a workplace with a safe and healthy working
system;
• To ensure that all staff are provided with the relevant information,
instruction, training and supervision regarding methods to carry out their
duties in a safe manner and without causing any risk to health;
• To investigate all accidents, diseases, poisonous and/or dangerous
occurrences, and to have action taken to ensure that these occurrences will
not be repeated;
• To comply with all the requirements of legislations related to safety and
health as stated in the Occupational Safety And Health Act 1994, as well as
regulations and codes of practice which have been approved;
• To provide basic welfare facilities to all workers; and
• To revise and improve on this policy whenever necessary.

To ensure that the objectives of this policy are fully met, a safety and health
officer is appointed in every state office for the purpose of coordinating and
discharging the planned activities related to safety and health.
• Labour Department (Peninsular Malaysia)
Jabatan Tenaga Kerja telah ditubuhkan pada tahun 1912 dan merupakan
salah sebuah daripada sembilan buah Jabatan dan agensi yang terletak di
bawah bidang kuasa Kementerian Sumber Manusia. Sebelum tahun 1960an,
objektif Jabatan ialah Menjaga kepentingan dan kebajikan pekerja di sektor
perladangan dan lombong.
• Labour Department (Sabah)
The Department of Labour, Sabah was established during the British North
Borneo Company's administration in the year 1880s. It was recognised as
"The Labour Protectorate” to meet the demand for the importation of
immigrant workers from China into the country. When the requirement for
21
 such foreign labour force was shifted to migrant workers from Java,
Indonesia, this Department was then known as "The Protector for Labour”.
• Labour Department (Sarawak)
The Department of Labour, Sarawak (JTKSWK) was established by the State
Government of Sarawak on 26th July 1960 with staff strength of 6 persons.
Labour Office, Kuching was set up 9 years later followed by the other 10
Labour Offices.Under the Inter-Governmental Committee (IGC) Report 1962,
the Director of Labour Sarawak is directly responsible to the Minister of
Human Resources through the Secretary General on the administration of
labour matters in Sarawak.With the formation of Malaysia on 16th September
1963, Department of Labour Sarawak was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Human Resources, or Ministry of Labour as it was known at that
time.
• Trade Union Affairs
JHEKS dahulunya dikenali sebagai Pejabat Pendaftaran Kesatuan Sekerja
telah ditubuhkan dalam bulan Julai 1946 untuk menguatkuasakan Enakmen
Kesatuan Sekerja 1940. Di bawah enakmen ini, sebuah kesatuan sekerja
yang ditubuhkan diwajibkan
memohon untuk pendaftaran kepada Pendaftar Kesatuan Sekerja.
Pendaftaran kesatuan sekerja bermula dalam tahun 1947 dan pada
penghujung tahun tersebut sebanyak 298 kesatuan sekerja telah didaftarkan
dengan jumlah keanggotaannya seramai 195,113 orang.
• Industrial Relation Department
The Department of Industrial Relations malaysia was established on the 21'st
Disember 1972. Prior to that it was a division of the department of Labour
and Industrial Relations. The Department of Industrial Relations has since
remained as one of the many organisations under the Ministry of Human
Resources.
• Industrial Court
The Industrial Court was established in 1940 under the Industrial Court of
Inquiry Rules but it did not function due to the Japanese Occupation. During
the Emergency period, trade union activities were carried out illegally as
many trade union leaders were influenced by communist subversive
elements.
• National Human Resources Institute
In order to attract foreign direct investment, the government realized that
today’s global competitiveness has to be addressed through effective human
resources management. The function on of NIHR is the strategic thrust under
Third Industrial Master Plan 2005-2010 to focus the objective to ensure that
the Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) will have an integrated
comprehensive database. The system, comprising of the aspects of
development and management of human resources as well as monitoring the
trend and needs of human resources. Collected data collected will be use to
facilitate the systematic planning of human resources, recruitment of
expatriates by industry as well as to minimize shortage and mismatching of
labour and required skills.

Statutory Bodies and Companies:

22
 • Social Security Organisation (SOCSO)
The Social Security Organization is an organization set up to administer,
enforce and implement the Employees' Social Security Act, 1969 and the
Employees' Social Security (General) Regulations 1971. The Social Security
Organization provides social security protection by social insurance including
medical and cash benefits, provision of artificial aids and rehabilitation to
employees to reduce the sufferings and to provide financial guarantees and
protection to the family. SOCSO is the abbreviation for Social Security
Organization. It is commonly known in the Malay term as PERKESO or
Pertubuhan Keselamatan Sosial.

• Human Resource Development Berhad

In the quest to attain the status of a developed country by the year 2020,
greater emphasis must be given to the retraining and skills upgrading of the
workforce. This is necessary not only to increase the knowledge and skill
intensity of the workforce, but also to equip them with specialised and up-to-
date skills as production techniques become increasingly automated and
businesses competitive. Retraining and skills upgrading is also of paramount
importance to enhance the quality of the workforce so that it is versatile and
adaptable to the changing technological and business environment.

• National Institute Of Occupational Safety and Healthy (NIOSH)

December 1, 1992 marked a new era in the promotion of Occupational Safety
and Health in Malaysia. On this day the National Institute of Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH) was launched, after careful preparation and
commitment from all parties to improve the safety and health of workers at
the workplace in Malaysia. In the words of the Minister of Human Resources,
Malaysia, NIOSH would be a "critical catalyst" in the promotion of
occupational safety and health that would also serve as the "backbone" to
create a "self-regulating occupational safety and health culture" in Malaysia.
NIOSH was set up by the government in 1992 to be the leading centre of
excellence in OSH, to spearhead the safety and health culture in the
workplace.

• Skill Development Fund Corporation

Tabung Pembangunan Kemahiran (TPK) mula beroperasi pada 2001 sebagai
satu kumpulan wang amanah untuk membiayai pelatih-pelatih kursus Sijil
Kemahiran Malaysia (SKM) dari pusat-pusat latihan awam dan swasta yang
programnya ditauliahkan oleh Jabatan Pembangunan Kemahiran (JPK). Tujuan
penubuhan TPK ialah untuk menyediakan pinjaman bagi latihan kemahiran
agar memenuhi keperluan tenaga kerja mahir negara.

Advisory Council:

23
 • National Labour Advisory Council
Majlis Penasihat Buruh Kebangsaan adalah forum tripatit bagi
membincangkan hal-hal berkaitan buruh dan isu-isu tenaga kerja termasuk
polisi perburuhan dan perundangan untuk mencadangkan pandangan-
pandangan kepada YAB. Menteri Sumber Manusia berhubung suasana
keharmonian perhubungan perusahaan bagi meningkatkan produktiviti
pekerja.

• National Council for Occupational Safety and Health

The National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) is the
highest forum in the Ministry of Human Resources where tripartite
discussions are held about issues related to the direction, national policy and
the implementation of occupational safety and health in Malaysia. NCOSH
was formed by the Ministry of Human Resources in 1995 under Section 8 of
the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514), as a product of the
Government continual efforts to make safe and healthy work practices as a
part of Malaysian culture. Furthermore, its purpose is to improve level of
awareness of occupational safety and health and to ensure the safety of all
workplaces in Malaysia. To become the prime mover in steering the nation
through tripartism, forming a safe and healthy work culture as well as raising
Malaysians' quality of life.

NCOSH carries out its functions by conducting discussions, studies and

investigations, and subsequently presenting suggestions to the Ministry of
Human Resources on matters related to Act 514 in particular the following
matters:

i. Changes deemed appropriate for occupational safety and health legislation;

ii. Administration and enforcement of occupational safety and health legislation;
iii. Open communication between management and employees regarding workers
safety, health and welfare;
iv. Adequate control methods for industrial chemicals in the workplace;
v. Work-related death and accident statistic analysis;
vi. Issues dealing with the safety, health and welfare of woman, the handicapped
and other groups in the community;
vii. Encouraging the development and acceptance of an industrial codes of practice
related to workers' safety, health and welfare;
viii Development of rehabilitation plans and facilities to help those injured in the
. workplace.

• Wages Council
The Wages Council was established under Section 3, Wages Council Act,
1947. The purpose of this Council is to regulate on the minimum
remuneration and conditions of employment of certain categories of workers.

24
Training Institute:

• Japan-Malaysia Technical Institute (JMTI)

Sejak tahun 1990, Malaysia telah mengalami pertumbuhan ekonomi ekoran
kejayaan polisi kerajaan dalam menarik pelaburan luar. Pertumbuhan yang
pesat ini mewujudkan bidang-bidang industri baru, sekaligus meningkatkan
keperluan tenaga kerja berkemahiran tinggi.
Dalam Rancangan Malaysia Ketujuh (1996-2000), Malaysia telah bergerak ke
arah industri berteknologi tinggi. Justeru itu struktur industri mesti disemak
untuk mengukuhkan sektor pembuatan negara dan menarik lebih banyak
pelaburan dari luar.

• Advanced Technology Training Center (ADTEC)

1. ADTEC Alor Gajah

PUSAT LATIHAN TEKNOLOGI TINGGI ADTEC MELAKA BANDAR VENDOR TABOH
NANING ALOR GAJAH 78000 MELAKA

2. ADTEC Batu Pahat

Pusat Latihan Teknologi Tinggi (ADTEC) Batu Pahat merupakan salah satu
daripada 26 buah Institusi Latihan Jabatan Tenaga Manusia (ILJTM) yang
dikendalikan oleh Jabatan Tenaga Manusia, Kementerian Sumber Manusia.
Pusat Latihan Teknologi Tinggi (Advanced Technology Training Center) atau
lebih dikenali dengan nama ringkasnya ADTEC ditubuhkan bagi memenuhi
keperluan tenaga kerja mahir dengan menyediakan latihan vokasional di
peringkat tinggi dengan pengkhususan dalam bidang-bidang yang
berteknologi tinggi dan terkini sejajar dengan keperluan perkembangan
teknologi di sektor pembuatan.

3. ADTEC Kulim
ADTEC Kulim merupakan salah sebuah daripada institut latihan di bawah
pentadbiran Jabatan Tenaga Manusia (KSM). Ianya ditubuhkan pada tahun
2000 di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Ketujuh (RMK-7) dan telah dirasmikan
pembukaannnya oleh YAB Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi,
Perdana Menteri Malaysia pada 11 Januari 2003.

4. ADTEC Shah Alam

ADTEC Shah Alam is a training institution committed to produce highly-skilled
manpower to meet the demands of the industry. There are nine technical
courses on offer at ADTEC Shah Alam. ADTEC Shah Alam’s trainees comprise
of school-leavers and graduates of other skills-training institutes who wish to
pursue and enhance their technical knowledge and skills.

• Industrial Training Institute (ILP)

25
APPENDIX 2 - Workplace Accident Statistics 2003 -2007 (Source: SOCSO
website)

26
27
28
29
30
31
32
APPENDIX 3 - Workplace Accident Statistics 2010 (Source: Ministry of
Human Resource website)

33
34
35
36
APPENDIX 4 - THE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT (OSHA) 1994
(ACT 514)

The OSHA provides the legislative framework to promote, stimulate and encourage
high standards of safety and health at work. The aim is to promote safety and
health awareness, and establish effective safety organization and performance
through self-regulation schemes designed to suit the particular industry or
organization. The long-term goal of the Act is to create a healthy and safe working
culture among all Malaysian employees and employers.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act is an Act which provides the legislative
framework to secure the safety, health and welfare among all Malaysian workforce
and to protect others against risks to safety or health in connection with the
activities of persons at work.

This Act was gazetted on 24th February 1994 and may be cited as the Occupational
Safety and Health Act 1994. This Act is a practical tool superimposed on existing
safety and health legislation.

The aims of this Act are

37
 1. to secure the safety, health and welfare of persons at work against risks to
safety or health arising out of the activities of persons at work

2. to protect person at a place of work other than persons at work against risks
to safety or health arising out of the activities of persons at work

3. to promote an occupational environment for persons at work which is

adapted to their physiological and psychological needs

4. to provide the means whereby the associated occupational safety and health
legislation may be progressively replaced by a system of regulations and
approved industry codes of practice operating in combination with the
provisions of this Act designed to maintain or improve the standards of safety
and health.

The provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 are based on the self-
regulation scheme. Its primary responsibility is to ensure safety and health of work
lies with those who create the risks and those who work with the risks.

Through self-regulating scheme that is designed to suit the particular industry or

organization, this Act also aims to establish effective safety and health organization
and performance.

The concept of self-regulation encourages cooperation, consultation and

participation of employees and management in efforts to upgrade the standards of
safety and health at the workplace.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is enforced by the Department of
Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), a government department under the
Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia.

• Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) will ensure through

enforcement and promotional works that employers, self-employed persons,
manufacturers, designers, importers, suppliers and employees always
practise safe and health work culture, and always comply with existing
legislation, guidelines and codes of practice.

• Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) will also formulate

and review legislation, policies, guidelines and codes of practice pertaining to
occupational safety, health and welfare as a basis in ensuring safety and
health at work.

• Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is also the secretariat

to National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, a council established
under section 8 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

38
The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health shall have power to do all
things expedient or reasonably necessary for or incidental to the carrying out of the
objects of this Act.

The OSHA is applicable throughout Malaysia in the following industries:

1. Manufacturing
2. Mining and Quarrying
3. Construction
4. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
5. Utilities
(a) Electricity;
(b) Gas;
(c) Water; and
(d) Sanitary Services
6. Transport, Storage and Communication
7. Wholesale and Retail Trades
8. Hotels and Restaurants
9. Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services
10. Public Services and Statutory Authorities

The OSHA is a relatively young legislation in Malaysia compared to other acts and
regulations. In view of the constraints in the OSH legislation, SMEs are still
struggling to meet the minimum requirements for safety and health at the
workplace. The OSHA currently rests with the concept of self-regulation among
SMEs. A responsible employer is one who takes charge to work with the risks he or
she has created by applying relevant preventive measures to control safety and
health risks. This is clearly displayed if an employer who requires an employee to
undertake a risky task applies what is required of him by law to provide the
necessary training to enable the employee to perform his duties safely. The
employee on the other hand must do his or her part in following instructions to work
safely.

Since its enactment in 1994, OSHA has been successful in reducing the rate of
accidents per 1,000 workers but the OSHA has only been effective to a certain
extent in tackling traditional OSH problems while fatality rate still remains high.
Injuries from the use of machinery and diseases contracted from the exposure to
chemicals and solvents are still rampant amongst SMEs. These traditional OSH
problems are still best controlled using traditional strategies such as risk
assessment, technical preventive measures, inspection and auditing as well as
training.

IMPORTANT DUTIES OF EMPLOYERS UNDER OSHA

It is the responsibility of the company to take steps to protect its workers’ safety
and health. Part IV of the OSHA states that it is the duty of every employer to
ensure the safety, health and welfare of his workers at work. The employer is also
responsible for preparing a written statement of his general policy on the safety and
health at work of his employees and the organization and arrangements in force for
carrying out that policy, and to bring the statement and any revision of it to the
notice of all of his employees.
39
Under Section 30 of the OSHA, employers who have 40 workers or above, or as
directed by the Director General, must establish a safety and health committee at
their workplace. The committee's main function is to review the measures taken to
ensure the safety and health of workers at the workplace and investigate any
related matters arising.

An employer must also notify the nearest occupational safety and health office of
any accident, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning or occupational
disease which has occurred or is likely to occur at the workplace.

The two main OSH Acts

1. Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139)
3. Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514)

The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994

Arrangement of Sections

Part I – Preliminary

1. Short title and application.

2. Prevailing laws.
3. Interpretation.
4. Objects of the Act.

Part II - Appointment Of Officers

5. Appointment of Officers.
6. Appointment of independent inspecting body.
7. Certificate of authorization

Part III - National Council For Occupational Safety And Health

8. Establishment of the Council.

9. Membership of the Council.
10. Second Schedule to apply.
11. Powers and functions of the Council.
12. Appointment of secretary to the Council.
13. Committees.
14. Annual report.

Part IV - General Duties of Employers and Self-Employed Persons

15. General duties of employers and self-employed persons to their employees.

16. Duty to formulate safety and health policy.
17. General duties of employers and self-employed persons to persons other than
their employees.
18. Duties of an occupier of a place of work to persons other than his employees.
19. Penalty for an offence under section 15. 16. 17 or 18
40
Part V - General Duties of Designers, Manufacturers and Suppliers

20. General duties of manufacturers, etc. as regards plant for use at work.
21. General duties of manufacturers, etc. as regards substances for use at work.
22. Explanations to sections 20 and 21.
23. Penalty for an offence under section 20 or 21.

Part VI - General Duties of Employees

24. General duties of employees at work.

25. Duty not to interfere with or misuse things provided pursuant to certain
provisions.
26. Duty not to charge employees for things done or provided .
27. Discrimination against employee, etc.

Part VII - Safety and Health Organizations

28. Medical surveillance.

29. Safety and health officer
30. Establishment of safety and health committee at place of work.
31. Functions of safety and health committee.

Part VIII - Notification of Accidents, Dangerous Occurrence, Occupational Poisoning

and Occupational Diseases, and Inquiry

32. Notification of accidents, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning and

occupational diseases, and inquiry.
33. Director General may direct inquiry to be held.
34. Power of occupational safety and health officer at inquiry.

Part IX - Prohibition Against use of Plant or Substance

35. Power to prohibit the use of plant or substance

36. Aggrieved person may appeal

Part X - Industry Codes of Practice

37. Approval of industry codes of practice.

38. Use of industry codes of practice in proceedings.

Part XI - Enforcement and Investigation

39. Powers of entry, inspection, examination, seizure, etc.

40. Entry into premises with search warrant and power of seizure.
41. Entry into premises without search warrant and power of seizure.
42. Power of forceful entry and service on occupier of signed copy of list of things
seized from premises.
43. Further provisions in relation to inspection.
44. Power of investigation.

41
45. Power to examine witnesses.
46. Employer, etc., to assist officer.
47. Offenses in relation to inspection.
48. Improvement notice and prohibition notice.
49. Penalty for failure to comply with notice.
50. Aggrieved person may appeal.

Part XII - Liability for Offenses

51. General penalty.

52. Offenses committed by body corporate.
53. Offenses committed by trade union.
54. Offenses committed by agent.
55. Defence.
56. Body corporate or trade union liable to fine.
57. Aiding and abetting.
58. Safeguards against further personal liability.
59. Civil liability not affected by Parts IV, V and VI.
60. Onus of proving limits of what is practicable.
61. Prosecutions.
62. Compounding of offenses.

Part XIII – Appeals

63. Appeal committees.

64. Powers of appeal committee.
65. Decision of appeal committee.

Part XIV – Regulations

66. Regulations.

Part XV – Miscellaneous

67. Duty to keep secret.

Schedules

Introduction

The Occupational Safety and Health, OSH Act 1994 (Act 514) was gazetted on
February 24, 1994. The legislation requires all employers with more than five
employees to formulate a written Safety and Health Policy of their workplaces. The
Act sets out the responsibilities of the employers and employees in maintaining a
safe and healthy working environment. The Act also provides for the Malaysian
Minister to issue regulations to implement the Act more precisely. Regulations that
have been issued are namely:

42
· Employers Safety and Health General Policy Statements (exception) Reg.1995
· OSH (Safety and Health Committee) Regulations 1996
· Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1997
· OSH (Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals) reg.1997
· Prohibition of use of Substance Order 1999
.OSH (Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to
Healths)Regulations 2000

Objective Of The OSH Act

The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is an Act to make further provisions
for securing that safety, health and welfare of persons at work, for protecting others
against risks to safety or health in connection with the activities of persons at work,
to establish the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, and for
matters connected with it.

OSH Policy
According to Section 16 of OSH Act, except in such cases as may be prescribed, it
shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person to prepare and
as often as may be appropriate revise a written statement of his general policy with
respect to the safety and health at work of his employees and the organizations and
arrangements for the time being in force for carrying out that policy and to bring
the statement and any revision of it to the notice of all of his employees. The OSH
policy demonstrates the company's concern, commitment and attempts to ensure
safety and health of the employees. It acts as a basis for developing and
implementing programmes for securing safety and health at the workplace.

The OSH Committee

According to the section 30 of the OSH Act, every employer who has more than 40
workers or as directed by the Director General, must establish a safety and health
committee at their workplace.

The objective of the committee is to foster cooperation and consultation between

management and workers in identifying, evaluating and controlling hazards at
workplaces. It is also an effective channel of communication to exchange ideas to
solve problems relating to occupational safety and health. Feedback from workers
will greatly assist employers to promote and provide a safe and healthy work
environment.

The membership of the committee consist of a chairman, a secretary,

representatives of employers and representatives of employees. The functions of
the committee are as followed:
· Keep under review the measures taken to ensure the safety and health of persons
at the workplace.
· Investigate any matters at the workplace that is considered is not safe or is a risk
to health and which has been brought to the attention of the employer.
· Investigate any matters which has been brought to the attention of the employer.
· Attempt to resolve any matter that is not safe or risky and if it is unable to do so,
request the Director General of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health
43
to carry out an inspection.
· Other functions as maybe prescribed.

The above information on OSH Act 1994, is just a part of the contents. The contents
of the Act are as followed:
· OSH (Employers' Safety and Health General Policy Statements) (exception)
Regulations 1995
· OSH (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards) Regulations 1996.
· OSH (Safety and Health Committee) Regulations 1996
· OSH (Classification, Packaging and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals) Regulations
1997.
· OSH (Safety and Health Officer) Regulations 1997.
· OSH (Prohibition of Use of Substance) Order 1999.
· OSH (Use and standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Healths)
Regulations 2000.

44
45