Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994
OCCUPATIONAL
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
SAFETYAND
AND HEALTH
HEALTH ACT
ACT (OSHA)
(OSHA)1994
1994
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the chapter, students should be able to:
INTRODUCTION &
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
ANDOBJECTIVE
HEALTH ACT
(OSHA) 1994
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
AND HEALTH IN MALAYSIA
Department of
Occupational Safety
and Health (DOSH)
LAWS ENFORCED BY DOSH
This Act may be cited as the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.
This Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514) was approved by the Parliament in 1993 and
was gazette on February 1994.
This legislation was made considering the fact that the Factory and Machinery Act 1967 only covers
occupational safety and health in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying and construction industries,
whereas the other industries are not covered.
With the approval of this Act, starting from April 1994 the Department of Factory and Machinery has been
renamed as the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and the Inspectors are called
Occupational Safety and Health Officers.
It cover nearly all sectors except person working on board ships and the armed forces.
CONT.
This Act also provide for….
The First Schedule of the Act enumerates the types of industry that will
come under the ambit of this legislation, and they are:
Manufacturing Transport, Storage and
Mining and Quarrying Communication
Construction Wholesale and Retail Traders
Agriculture, Forestry and Hotels and Restaurants
Fishing Finance, Insurance, Real
Utilities - gas, electric, water Estate, Business Service
and sanitary services Public Services and Statutory
Authorities
SIGNIFICANCE OF COMPLIANCE WITH
THE SAFETY LAWS
• There are very good reasons why employers should put effort into providing a safe
system of work and insisting that employees implement the system.
• It may be difficult to accurately calculate the costs of industrial accidents but clearly they
are high, not only in financial terms, but also in relation to the suffering of those involved
in the accidents.
To promote an occupational environment for persons at work which is adapted to their physiological and
psychological needs;
To provide the means (method) whereby the occupational safety and health legislations may be replaced by a
system of regulations and approved industry codes of practice operating;
To maintain or improve the standards of safety and health.
To promote and encourage occupational safety and health awareness among workers and to create organization
along with effective safety and health measures.
It measures any conflict in existing occupational safety and health laws such as the Factory and Machinery
Act 1967 and will overcome it.
3 PRINCIPLES OF OSHA
There are three main principles that had been taken as the foundation
in the drafting of this Act.
The first principle is self-regulation. To handle issues relating to occupational safety and health,
employers must develop a good and orderly management system. Starting with formation of a
safety and health policy and consequently employers have to make the proper arrangements to be
carried out.
The second principle is consultation, where employers, employees and the government must
negotiate to settle issues and problems relating to occupational safety and health at the workplace.
The third principle is co-operation, where employers and employees must co-operate to take
care, nurture and to increase the quality of occupational safety and health at the workplace.
This department is responsible for ensuring the safety, health and welfare of
people at work as well as protecting other people from the safety and health
hazards arising from the activities sectors which include:
Manufacturing Transport, Storage and Communication
Mining and Quarrying Wholesale and Retail Traders
Construction Hotels and Restaurants
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Finance, Insurance, Real
Utilities - gas, electric, water and Estate, Business Service
sanitary services Public Services and Statutory Authorities
DEPARTMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY
AND HEALTH (DOSH)
Strength of association. An occupational disease is one where there is an obvious and real increase in disease in
association with exposure to the risk.
Consistency. The various research reports have generally similar results and conclusions.
Specificity. The risk exposure results in a clearly defined pattern of disease or of diseases and not simply in an
increasing number of causes of morbidity or mortality.
Appropriate time relationship. The disease follows after the exposure and with an appropriate time interval.
Biological gradient. The greater the level of exposure, the greater the prevalence of severity of diseases.
Biological plausibility. From what is known of toxicology, chemistry, physical properties or other attributes of the
studied risk, it does really make biological sense to suggest that the exposure leads to a certain disorder.
Coherence. A general synthesis of all the evidence (human epidemiology, animal studies and so on) leads to the
conclusion that there is a causative effect in its broad sense and in terms of general common sense.
PROPOSED ILO
LIST OF OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES
1. Diseases caused by agents
1.1 Diseases caused by chemical agents
1.1.1 Diseases caused by beryllium or its toxic compounds
1.1.2 Diseases caused by cadmium or its toxic compounds
1.1.3 Diseases caused by phosphorus or its toxic compounds
1.1.4 Diseases caused by chromium or its toxic compounds
1.1.5 Diseases caused by manganese or its toxic compounds
1.1.6 Diseases caused by arsenic or its toxic compounds
1.1.7 Diseases caused by mercury or its toxic compounds
1.1.8 Diseases caused by lead or its toxic compounds
1.1.9 Diseases caused by fluorine or its toxic compounds
1.1.10 Diseases caused by carbon disulphide
1.1.11 Diseases caused by the toxic halogen derivatives of aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons
1.1.12 Diseases caused by benzene or its toxic homologues
1.1.13 Diseases caused by toxic nitro- and amino-derivatives of benzene or its homologues
1.1.14 Diseases caused by nitroglycerin or other nitric acid esters
1.1.15 Diseases caused by alcohols glycols or ketones
1.1.16 Diseases caused by asphyxiants: carbon monoxide hydrogen cyanide or its toxic derivatives hydrogen sulphide
1.1.17 Diseases caused by acrylonitrite
1.1.18 Diseases caused by oxides of nitrogen
1.1.19 Diseases caused by vanadium or its toxic compounds
1.1.20 Diseases caused by antimony or its toxic compounds
1.1.21 Diseases caused by hexane
1.1.22 Diseases of teeth due to mineral acids
1.1.23 Diseases due to pharmaceutical agents
1.1.24 Diseases due to thallium or its compounds
1.1.25 Diseases due to osmium or its compounds
1.1.26 Diseases due to selenium or its toxic compounds
1.1.27 Diseases due to copper or its compounds
1.1.28 Diseases due to tin or its compounds
1.1.29 Diseases due to zinc or its toxic compounds
1.1.30 Diseases due to ozone, phosgene
1.1.31 Diseases due to irritants: benzoquinone and other corneal irritants
1.1.32 Diseases caused by any other chemical agents not mentioned in the preceding items 1.1.1 to 1.1.31 where a link between the exposure of a
worker to this chemical agent and the disease suffered is established.
1. Diseases caused by agents
Accident
Losses
Physical harm to property and
material destroyed or combination of Injuries
Unexpected Events occur
and both Death
(single/ multiple Property
unplanned
events combination of Time
events) Near miss Money
Bird & Germain (1966): An un desired event that results in harm people,
damage to property or loss to process
Employee commitment: Employees should be the ‘eyes’ to report hazards, unsafe conditions
and behaviors. This will help management to solve and come out with solutions for preventing
unwanted incidents from happening. They should also be the ones following the planned program
Workplace hazard assessment: Hazard assessment and identification from HIRARC is used to
identify unsafe acts and conditions at the workplace. This data will be used to plan the hazard
controls to be used
Hazard control: used to minimize hazards as far as it can practically be applied. Six steps of
hazard control; elimination, substitution, isolation, engineering control, administration control and
PPE control
CONT.
Accident investigation: used to determine the weaknesses of incident
prevention measures already in place. The results of the investigation will have a
cause and effect and recommendation of correction is recorded too.
Record Keeping: a legal requirement and should be kept for seven years. All
safety activities, such as training, auditing, accident investigation, safety
committee meeting, medical surveillance, implemented accident prevention
programs and so on must be documented for reference and records. Data for
any unsafe acts can be obtained and analyzed to develop better incident
prevention programs.
PART V
OCCUPATIONAL
ENSURING ASAFETY
SAFE
AND HEALTH ACT
WORKPLACE
(OSHA) 1994
Managing occupational safety and health (OSH) at the workplace is crucial as
accidents have both immediate and unforeseen costs to the organization.
Everyone is responsible for safety and health in the workplace, but management in
particular has substantially more responsibility than employees. The Occupational
Safety and Health Management System (OSHMS) establishes control and maintains
day-to-day safety and health issues.
OSHMS is defined as a set of interrelated or interacting elements to establish and
implement OSH policy and objectives, and to achieve those objectives.
The commitment and concerns about safety and health at the top level of the
management system will directly affect the safety performance in the organization as a
whole. Managers have direct control and can give instructions on safety and health at
the workplace. The managers must take proactive approach in determining
responsibility and accountability in controlling safety and health issues in the
organization.
MANAGERS CAN INFLUENCE SAFETY
PERFORMANCE BY:
It is a basic duty for an employer to follow the Malaysian Occupational Safety and
Health standard OSH-MS1722:2011.
The establishment is a requirement adapted from the International Labour
Organization components (ILO-OSH 2001) and based on the quality management
system elements of the Deming Wheel (Plan, Do, Check and Act).
The primary components of OSH-MS1722 are:
Policy
Organizing
Planning & Implementation
Evaluation
Action for Improvement
1. POLICY
Every organization should have clear policy for the management of safety and
health to unsure that everyone in the organization is aware about safety and
health aims and objectives.
A good policy will enhance the performance of the organization, which will in
turn boost the individual’s safety development and will reduce financial losses.
The employer should have overall responsibility and accountability towards the
protection of worker’s safety and health and organizing OSH activities.
A policy will only remain as words on paper until organization sets up the plan
and monitors the requirements.
The plan begins with initial review carried out by competent persons or
consultants and will become the basis for making decisions regarding the
implementation of the OSH management system.
“Section 30 of OSHA 1994 stated that every employer shall establish a safety and health committee in the workplace”.
(OSHA, 1994)
All industries with equal or more than 40 employees must have a safety and health
committee. The safety and health committee provides a link between the employees and
employers.
An effective safety and health committee is important for the following reasons:
• Accidents rates are reduced
• Safety and health awareness is improved
• A broad range of safety and health expertise and experience is available for solving
problems
• Cooperation is encouraged through better communications
• All employees have a way to express concerns have them expressed
A person who violates the provisions of Section 30 OSH 1994 shall be guilty of an offence
and shall on conviction be liable to a maximum fine of RM5,000 or maximum
imprisonment of 6 months, or both.
SAFETY AND HEALTH COMMITTEE COMPOSITION
A secretary
According to Section 24 (2), a person who disobeys the provisions of this section
shall be guilty of an offence and is liable to a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or to
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, or both.
CONT.
Section 25 describes the duty of an employee to not interfere with or misuse
things provided for safety, welfare and health. A maximum penalty of RM20,000, or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or both can be imposed on those
who disobey this section.
Section 26 states that no employer shall charge employees for things done or
provided.
Section 27(1) asks that no employer shall dismiss an employee, injure him in his
employment, or alter his position, if the employee;
• Makes a complaint about the matter which he considers is not safe or is a risk to health
• Is a member of a safety and health committee established pursuant to OSH 1994
• Exercises any of his function as a member of the safety and health committee
CONT.
Section 27 (2) describes that no trade union shall take any action on any of its
members who, being an employee at a place of work;
• Makes a complaint about a matter which he considers is not safe or is a risk to
health
• Is a member of a safety and health committee established pursuant to OSH
1994
• Exercises any of his functions as a member of the safety and health
committee.