TOPIC : REGULATIONS & STANDARDS

DATE : 4 JUNE 2012, MONDAY

LECTURE 3.1 : OSHA RULES ARE NOT MEANT
TO BE BROKEN
Health, Safety &
Environment (CBB 2012)
Lecture Content
What is Law/Legislation?
Prevention versus Protection
Health & Safety Legislation
Environmental Legislation
Lecture Outcomes

Define law / legislation
Differentiate between laws of
prevention & laws of protection
List out reason why OSHA 1994 &
EQA 1994 are necessary
Prevention vs. Protection
Prevention: aspects of legislation
which emphasize on guidelines or
requirement for preventing damage to
or loss of either people or
environment

Protection: acts or regulations to
prosecute and penalize culprits
Health and
Safety
Legislation

Pre-OSHA days
In the 1830s no clear distinction between nature, traffic,
energy, waste and other subjects. Waste laid scattered in
the streets.

More than 15 workers were killed every day on the job in
America and a worker became injured or ill on the job every
2.5 seconds.

Inspections infrequent and penalties for offences insignificant.

The HSE movement's history has been one of emancipation
from the unhealthy and unsafe practices.
The industrial revolution in Britain resulted in some unsafe and unhealthy
working conditions plus a high numbers of injury and disease
- the evolution of Occupational Safety and Health Legislation in Malaysia
was based on the traditional approach derived from 19th Century British
Legislation

Factory and Machinery Act 1967 was enacted in 1967 as Act No. 64 of
1967 and gazetted on the 1st February 1970

The principle of the Act is to provide for the control of
factories with respect to matters relating to the safety,
health and welfare of person therein, the registration
and inspection of the machinery and for matters
connected therewith.

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.
History of OSHA in Malaysia
Prior to the OSHA 1994, the FMA 1967 was the primary
legislation on occupational safety and health matter.
Disadvantages of FMA 1967 :
+ Scope limited to only manufacturing sector
+ Prescriptive, detailed regulations
+ Too dependent on the government
The formulation of the OSHA 1994, covers all aspects of
the economy including the public services and government
bodies.
OSH Legislation in Malaysia
The purpose of OSHA 1994 is to promote and encourage
occupational safety and health awareness among workers,
along with the organization with effective safety and health
measures.

3 main principles that had been taken as the foundation in the
drafting of the act :
a) self-regulation,
b) tri-partite consultation
c) co-operation.

Reflects many principles stated in a British Report 1972.

History of OSHA in Malaysia
Occupational Safety and Health Act
1994
Popularly known as the OSHA 1974. -
OSHA 1974 gazetted in Feb 1994 based on intensive
study of 1988 -1993 accident statistics
Covers all sectors of the economy
- EXCEPT the armed forces and those on board the
ships (subjected to the Merchant Shipping Ordinance
1952, and Merchant Shipping Ordinance 1960 of Sabah
and Sarawak).
Administered and Enforced by the Department of
Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH) under the
Ministry of Human Resources.
OSH Legislation in Malaysia
FACTORIES AND MACHINERY ACT (FMA) 1967

PESTICIDES ACT 1974

ATOMIC ENERGY LICENSING ACT 1984

PETROLEUM (SAFETY MEASURES) ACT 1984

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT
(OSHA) 1994

Objectives of OSHA 1994
To ensure the safety, health and welfare of persons at work
against risks to safety and health arising from workplace activities.
To protect non-employees at a workplace from risks to safety and
health arising from workplace activities.
To promote an occupational environment at the workplace that is
adapted to their physiological and psychological needs.
To provide means of developing a system of regulations and
industry codes of practice to maintain/improve OSH standards.
Philosophy and Guiding Principles
Responsibilities to ensure safety and health at
workplaces lies with those who create the risk
and with those who work with the risk.
Employees, workers
Employers, manufacturers,
suppliers
The OSHA 1994 is based on self-regulation.
OSHA 1994 is tripartite - government, employers and
employees work together.
General Duties of an Employer
Provide and maintain systems of work (machineries, equipment,
tools, and storage & transportation) that are safe and without
health risk.
Provide information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure
that all activities are carried out safely and without health risk.
Provide a safe workplace for both employees and visitors, with
adequate means of access and exit and welfare facilities.
For employers with more than five employees, formulate a written
policy on OSH matters and inform all employees regarding the
policy.
Penalty for failure to comply: RM 50,000 or two years
imprisonment or both.
General Duties of a Designer / Manufacturer / Importer /
Supplier
To ensure that machineries or substances supplied are safe and
without health risks when properly used.
To arrange for necessary testing of machineries or substances
supplied.
To provide sufficient information and training to ensure the safe use
of machineries or substances supplied.
To carry out necessary research to minimize any risk to safety or
health that may arise from machineries and substances supplied.
To ensure the safe installation of machineries supplied.
Penalty for failure to comply: RM 20,000 or two years imprisonment
or both.


General Duties of an Employee
To take care to ensure the safety of yourself and other persons.
To provide full cooperation to the employer and other persons in
complying with the requirements of OSHA 1994.
To wear or use, at all times, any protective equipment or clothing
provided by the employer.
Not to intentionally, recklessly or negligently interfere with or misuse
any item provided or activity carried out in the interest of OSH in
pursuance of the OSHA 1994.
Penalty for failure to comply: RM 1,000 or three months
imprisonment or both.

In maintaining and safety
and health in workplaces, all
parties involved in work
activities must play their
respective parts at all time
Safety and Health Committee
An employer with 40 or more employees must establish an OSH
committee.
Both management and workers must have adequate and equal
representation in the committee.
The committee provides an avenue for consultation and cooperation
between management and workers in identifying, assessing and
controlling workplace hazards.
Among the committees functions are
+ review OSH measures undertaken;
+ inspect the workplace;
+ investigate possible hazards, accidents, near-misses;
+ recommend corrective action.
Penalty for failure to comply: RM 5,000 or six months imprisonment or
both .
Safety and Health Officer
Employers in certain high-risk industries, with greater than a given number
of employees, must appoint a qualified Safety and Health Officer.
The officer must have completed a training course in OSH and passed all
required examination, have experience in the area of OSH of at least 10 years,
and be registered with the Director General of OSH.
Among the officers functions are:
+ prepare & submit monthly reports on OSH matters;
+ act as the secretary to the safety and health committee;
+ advise on and assist in OSH measures to be taken;
+ inspect the workplace to identify and correct potential hazards;
+ investigate possible hazards, accidents, near-misses;
+ collect and analyze OSH statistics.
Main Contributors to Workplace
Accidents
Lack or no training on the job

Absence of clear safe working
procedures.

Lack of on-the-job supervision.

Act of negligence on the part of the
workers.

Other factors such as machinery
breakdown, poor plant/machinery
maintenance etc.
An explosion killed 15 and injured
170 in Texas on March 23, 2005.

On June 8, 2005, a window washer
lost his life after falling from a
four-storey building.

Farming, forestry, horticulture and
associated industries :
April 2001 - March 2002
- 41 fatal injuries
OSHA-related accidents
OSHA-related accidents
Municipal Water-line Inspector Dies After
Entering Oxygen-Deficient Vault in
Missouri.

On September 3, 1992, a 31-year-old
municipally employed inspector climbed
into the eight-foot-deep water
maintenance vault which contains the
water main and an air relief valve. The
victim was overcome by the lack of
oxygen and did not survive.

OSHArelated accidents :
Lessons learnt
Confined-space atmospheres are dynamic
environments subjected to unexpected
changes
- the dynamics should be addressed in all
written, safe work procedures practised
and training of subsequent worker.

A comprehensive confined-space entry
program to address all provisions outlined
in NIOSH publications 80-106, "Working in
Confined Spaces," and 87-113, "A Guide
to Safety in Confined Spaces should be
developed and implemented

Municipalities should ensure that police, as
well as fire and rescue personnel, are
trained in confined-space entry and rescue
procedures
Since OSHA was established in
1971, workplace fatalities have been
cut in half and injury/illness rates
have declined by 40 percent.

OSHAs commitment to develop and
enforce safety standards.

OSHAs objectives to be met by
2008 :
Reducing the occupational death
rate by 15 percent.
Cutting the occupational injury
and illness rate by 20 percent.

Railway:
The years 1993 through 1999 were
the safest years ever in rail history.
OSHA Success stories



3M Canada Plants:
91% reduction in volatile organic air
emissions (solvents), 1990-2000
41% reduction in the rate of waste
generated per tonne of manufactured
product, 1990-2000
33% reduction in employee accident
incident rate, 1996-2000
30% reduction in all releases, including
manufacturing scrap, 1990-2000

Intel:
Over the past ten years, employee injury
rates reduced by 75% to world-class
levels.
In the past five years alone, air emission
rates and water usage rates have
dropped 50% and 30%, respectively.
Reference
Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act
514) & Subsidiary Legislation
International Law Book Services, October 2000