PETALING JAYA: The amended Occupational Safety and Health Act, which will be enforced from June, has spelt out clearly the employers’ duty in ensuring workers’ safety, says the Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health.
For example, this is seen in Section 18B of the Act, said its honorary secretary Daman Huri Mohammad.
The section outlined the “duty to conduct and implement risk assessment”.
It stipulated that every employer or self-employed person shall conduct a risk assessment in relation to the safety and health risk posed to anyone who may be affected by his undertaking at the workplace.
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“Risk assessment” refers to the process of evaluating the risks to safety and health arising from hazards at work and determining the appropriate measures for risk control.
Daman Huri, when asked to comment about requirements imposed on employers, said the amended Act had addressed “the very basics of occupational safety that every industry can apply, such as risk management in every part of the work activity”.
However, he expressed concern for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the Act had now expanded to include businesses with more than five workers.
Many SMEs are not adequately educated about occupational safety and health, he said.
The Act, he said, had excluded only three areas, namely the armed forces, workers on board ships and domestic employment.
He also said many companies had yet to realise that the Act would be enforced on June 1.
