1.0 OSH Legislation and Its Implementation

1.1 Demographic Trends of Malaysian Labor Force

Malaysia is a tropical country with a land area of 32,975 square kilometers situated in Southeast Asia. It consists of Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia. The population of Malaysia is estimated at 23.8 million, compared to 18.4 million in 1991. The population growth rate is 2.6% per annum. There are several ethnic groups where the majority is Malay, followed by Chinese and Indian. The crude birthrate is 23.5 per 1000, and the crude death rate is 4.4 per 1000. The life expectancy at birth is 70.3 for males and 75.2 for females. The infant mortality rate is 7.9 per 100,000. These rates reflect the health status of the Malaysian population. The urban population in the year 2000 was 62% compared to 51% in 1991. The population aged 65 and above was 3.9% in 2001 compared to 3.7% in 1991. These numbers suggest an aging population. The unemployment rate in the country is 3.7% in 2001.

The Malaysia labor force of 8.6 million workers represents approximately 38.7% of the total population. The largest employers are the manufacturing sector (22.2%), followed by community, social and personal service (20.1%), and wholesale, retail trade, hotel and restaurant (18.9%) (Table 1)

Table 1: Employment Patterns in Malaysia

Type of Sector	Person (‘000)	Labor Force (%)
Manufacturing	1907.8	22.2
Community, social and personal service	1787.5	20.7
Wholesale, retail trade, hotel & restaurant	1616.0	18.8
Agricultural, forestry & fishing	1616.5	18.8
Other sectors	925.9	10.8
Construction	745.9	8.7
Total	8599.6	100

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2001.

The total National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) amounts to RM 385 billion (RM 3.80 =1 USD). Services and manufacturing sectors contribute to a total of 72.4% of the GDP (Table 2).

Table 2: Malaysia Gross Domestic Products, 2000

Type of Sector	Product in RM (million)	% of Total
Services	162,303	42.1
Manufacturing	116,814	30.3
Mining & quarrying	34,746	9.0
Agricultural, forestry & fishing	29,243	7.6
Impacted bank service charge	22,307	5.8
Construction	14,080	3.7
Import duties	5827	1.5
Total	385,320	100

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2001.

Total export in the year 2000 was RM 213 billion. Electrical and electronics export were the major contributors (66%) (Table 3). Malaysia is the world third largest manufacturer of semiconductors.

Table 3.  Malaysia Total Export by Sectors, 2000.

Type of Sector	Product in RM (million)	% of Total
Electrical and electronics	141,100	66.0
Other manufactured goods ad articles	31,192	14.6
Palm oil	10,902	5.1
Crude petroleum	8930	4.2
Liquid natural gas	8520	4.0
Articles of apparel, clothing accessories	5930	2.8
Sawn logs and timber	2886	1.3
Plywood & veneer	2906	1.3
Rubber	1454	0.7
Total	385,320	100

Source: Department of Statistics, Malaysia, 2001.

1.2 Historical Perspective of OSH Development

 In the early state of country development, the economic structure depended heavily on agricultural and mining based activity. The growth of these sectors introduced various hazards to workers. The Selangor Boiler Enactment in 1892 was the first legislation to address industrial safety issues. In 1913, the Machinery Ordinance was enacted to ensure safety of machinery including boiler and internal combustion engines. The Machinery Ordinance 1913 was updated in 1932 (Machinery Enactment 1932) with additional provisions on registration and inspection of machinery installation. The Machinery Ordinance of 1953 superceded all previous legislation related to industrial safety, and was enforced in all the 11 states of Malaya under the jurisdiction of Machinery Department, Ministry of Labour. Early OSH legislation, the Federated Malay States Mining Enactment of 1926 and the Rump Labor Code of 1933 included public health provisions. Both these legislation required the provision of accommodation, sanitation, medical care and services, decent working conditions and livable wages for the mine and estate workers. 

1.3 Factories & Machinery Act 1967

In 1960s, the government implemented a policy to move towards industrialization. This resulted in an increasing number of workers in the manufacturing sector such as microelectronics, chemical and mineral based industries, and in later years textile and automobile industries. In order to manage the safety and health problems associated with manufacturing industries, the Factory and Machinery Act (FMA) was enacted in 1967 and enforced by the Factories and Machinery Department (previously known as Machinery Department).  This Act and the regulations were the cornerstone for OSH improvement for the next three decades before the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

Although the FMA was an improvement over earlier pieces of legislation, it had some important limitations. Among them was the fact that it only encompassed “factories” and hence covered only 23% of the workforce. It was prescriptive in nature, and based on traditional “checklist” system whereby hazards were identified and measures to overcome the hazards were stipulated. It also depended on command and control approaches and improvement was heavily dependent on the effectiveness of enforcement agencies.

A number of regulations were introduced in 1970 to further strengthen the FMA 1967 (Table 4). These regulations except for the Safety, Health and Welfare Regulation 1970 were primarily targeted in addressing safety problems. Provisions of first aid and welfare facilities e.g. drinking water, toilets and washing facility were included in the Safety, Health and Welfare Regulation 1970.  From 1984 to 1989, four pieces of regulations addressing specific health hazards in the workplace – lead, asbestos, noise and mineral dust – were introduced. Provisions for assessing exposure at the workplace; establishing permissible exposure level (PEL); control measures including medical and health surveillance provisions; competence and training program were common to all these regulations. However, the process of introducing regulations covering other health hazard was slow.

Table 4. List of regulations made under the FMA 1967.

Regulations	Year
Certificate of Competency-Examination	1970
Electric Passenger and Good Lift	1970
Fencing of Machinery and Safety	1970
Notification of Fitness and Inspections	1970
Person-In-Charge	1970
Safety, Health & Welfare	1970
Steam Boiler & Unfired Pressure Vessel	1970
Administration	1970
Compounding of Offences	1978
Compoundable Offences	1978
Lead	1984
Asbestos Process	1986
Building Operations and Works of Engineering Construction (Safety)	1986
Noise Exposure	1989
Mineral Dust	1989

       Source: Factory & Machinery Act, 1967.

1.4 Occupational Safety & Health Act 1994

The introduction of a comprehensive Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994 was in response to the need to cover a wider employee base and newer hazards introduced in the workplace. Developed countries such as Japan had enacted such legislation in 1972, United Kingdom in 1974 (the Health and Safety At Work Act 1974), United State of America in 1970 (the Occupational Health & Safety Act 1970) and in Sweden and Norway, the Act was called Internal Control Regulation. The OSHA 1994 is enforced by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) (previously known as Factory and Machinery Department. The name was changed to reflect changes in coverage) under the Ministry of Human Resources.

The Act was derived from the philosophy of the Roben’s Commission and Health & Safety At Work Act 1974 in UK, emphasizing on self-regulation and duties of employer, employee and designer/manufacturer. The employer’s duties include the provision of a safe system of work, training, maintenance of work environment and arrangement for minimizing the risks at low as reasonably practicable. In short, the responsibility on OSH is made to rest on those who create the risks (employers) and those who work with the risk (employees).

 The Act is referred as a reflexive-type of Act which was less prescriptive, cover all workers except those in armed forces and those who work aboard ship (which were covered by other legislations). The Act also emphasis on duties of care by individual thus empowering the participation of all person in OSH.

 Under the OSH Act 1994, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health was established. This Council comprised of 15 council members with tripartite representation from Government, employers, employees and OSH professionals (with at least one woman member). The legislation also contains provision for formulating regulations and Code of Practices (COPs), which indicates “what should be done” and thus assist the employer to comply with the Act.

A series of regulations have been introduced under OSHA 1994. The emphasis of these regulations has been on establishing mechanism to implement OSH in workplaces. Workplaces with five or more workers are required to formulate a Safety and Health Policy. The Safety and Health Committee Regulations 1996 requires establishments with 40 workers and above to establish a safety and health committee. The committee is required to meet at least once in every three months, with the functions to identify hazards at the workplace, institute control measures, investigate incident and conducting audit.

In terms of representation in the committee, workplace with less than 100 workers will need to have at least two representatives each for workers and management respectively. However, workplaces with more than 100 workers will need to have a minimum of four representatives each for workers and management. The Safety and Health Officer Regulations provide for specific industries to have a Safety and Health Officer (SHO). A SHO is an individual who has attended training in National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) or other accredited training bodies and has passed the examination conducted by NIOSH and registered with DOSH.

The Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards (CIMAH) Regulations 1996 was enacted in response indirectly to the Bhopal incident in India in 1984 and the Sungai Buluh firecracker factory tragedy in Malaysia which has killed 23 workers in 1992.

The Classification, Packaging and Labeling (CPL) Regulations 1997 and Use and Standard of Exposure of Chemical Hazardous to Health (USECHH) Regulations 2000 were specific for controlling chemicals at the workplace. The CPL regulation required proper packaging and labeling of chemicals by the supplier including the label giving risk phrases. The USECHH regulation includes the provision of chemical health risk assessor (CHRA), occupational health doctor (OHD) and industrial hygiene technician to perform their respective roles in assessing the health risk from chemical exposure. In particular, the chemical health risk assessment includes having a list of all chemicals, assessing workers exposure to these risks, deciding on acceptability of risks and control measures that exist are reviewed. If risks are found to be unacceptable, action needs to be taken. This regulation leads to increased training needs, which was offered by NIOSH. Guideline on Chemical Health Risk Assessment has also been issued.

Table 5 showed the regulations made under OSHA 1994. Guidelines and Code of Practices which have been issued by DOSH under the OSHA 1994 are shown in Table 6.

Table 5. The regulation made under OSHA 1994.

Regulation	Year
Employer’s Safety and Health General Policy Statement (Exception)	1995
Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards	1996
Safety and Health Committee	1996
Classification, Packaging, and Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals	1997
Safety and Health Officer	1997
Safety and Health Officer Order	1997
Prohibition of Use of Substance	1999
Use and Standards of Exposure of Chemicals Hazardous to Health	2000

Source: OSHA, 1994.

Table 6. Guidelines and Code of Practices made under OSHA 1994

Regulation	Year
Guidelines for Public Safety and Health at Construction Site	1994
Guidelines on First Aid Facilities in the Workplace	1996
Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in the Office	1996
Guidelines for the Classification of Hazardous Chemicals	1997
Guidelines for Labelling of Hazardous Chemicals	1997
Guidelines for the Formulation of a Chemical Safety Data Sheet	1997
Guidelines on Control of Exposure to Dust in the Wood Processing Industry	1998
Guidelines on Safety and Health in the Wood Processing Industry	1998
Guidelines on Reduction of Exposure to Noise in the Wood Processing Industry	1998
Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in Tunnel Construction	1998
Guidelines for the Preparation of Demonstration of Safe Operation Document (Storage of Liquified Petroleum Gas in Cylinder)	2001
Guidelines on Medical Surveillance	2001
Approved Code of Practice for Safe Working in a Confined Space	2001
Approved Code of Practice on HIV/AIDS in Workplace.	2001
Guidance for the Prevention of Stress and Violence at the Workplace	2001
Code of Practice on Prevention and Management of HIV/AIDS at the Workplace	2001
Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health for Standing at Work	2002
Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture	2002

Source: DOSH, Malaysia, 2002.

1.5 Implication of ILO Convention & Recommendation on Malaysia Legislation

Malaysia has been the member of the ILO since 1957. To date, Malaysia has ratified 15 ILO fundamental conventions and 14 are in force. Table 7 shows the fundamental ILO conventions which have been ratified by Malaysia as of 7 Dec 2002.

ILO convention and recommendation related to OSH can be classified into four categories, (1) Guiding policies for action; (2) Protection in given branches of economic activity: e.g. construction industry, commerce and offices and dock work; (3) Protection against specific risks: e.g. ionizing radiation, benzene, asbestos, guarding of machinery; (4) Measures of protection: e.g. medical examinations of young workers, maximum weight of loads to be transported by a single worker, prevention of occupational accidents on board ship, prevention of occupational cancer, prevention of air pollution, noise and vibration in the working environment.

An ILO convention is considered a multilateral international treaty, and contains binding obligations. Member countries on ratifying a convention are obliged to apply its provision by legislation or by other appropriate means as indicated in the text of the convention. Report on non-compliance may be made by the governments of other ratifying States or by employers’ or workers’ organizations. Procedures exist for investigating and acting upon such complaints. Usually, Trade Unions use ILO standards to support arguments in bargaining and promoting legislation. In the other hands, ILO recommendations are a form of guideline for action to be taken by member country which do not require reporting to ILO.  The reason why Malaysia has not ratified other ILO OSH conventions is not clearly known and further study is required.

However, on the positive note, Malaysia is keeping pace in OSH development and supporting ILO initiative at the local level. Local regulations such as Asbestos Regulations are modeled against the ILO Asbestos Convention 1986. ILO OHS Services Convention 1985 has been referred in the development of the OSH Act 1994. In many instances, local legislation was developed with the adequate advice from ILO experts through various platform and initiatives.  In the case of developing the Malaysia OSH-MS, which was undertaken by the National Council of Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) in 2001, ILO OSH 2001 was used as the framework to develop local standard and ILO expert was invited to brief the local OSH community (Wan Muthiah, 2002). The Malaysia OSH-MS is scheduled to be ready by mid of 2003.

Malaysia also participated in the PIACT Project (The International Program for the Improvement of Working Conditions and Environment, PIACT) organized by ILO in 1993 in line with the initiative under The Chemical Convention 1990 (No. 170) and Recommendation 1990 (No. 177). As part of this exercise, a training module on “Safety and Health in the Use of Chemicals at Work” was published locally (ILO, 1991;1993).

ILO-Japan Institute for Science and Labor (ISC) initiative such as the Workplace Improvement for Small Enterprise (WISE) project in 1997 was another case where collaboration between local authority and ILO regional office was carried out. This project was specifically targeted to improve OSH in the small and medium sized industries in Malaysia by using low cost improvement methods. This project was viewed successful at its own right. The follow-up study was carried out among the ex-WISE project participating companies in 2001, and the result showed that the ex-WISE companies had demonstrated some form of OSH management system such as OSH committee (Ng et al, 2002). World Bank has also funded the capacity building project for Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) with the ILO as the advisor.

Table 7. ILO Conventions Ratified by Malaysia as of 7 Dec 2002.

     Source: ILO, 2002.

1.6 Implementation of OSHA 1994

A Survey carried out by the local researchers showed that 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 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.

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 (see Table 8).

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).

Table 8. Total Number of Notices of Improvement/Prohibition and Prosecution Issued by DOSH.

Notices	Prosecution	Year
557	97	1995
929	27	1996
1046	80	1997
931	65	1998
822	11	1999
1023	22	2000
4797	58	2001
3340	49	2002

           Source: NST, 2002

2.0 Occupational Accident and Diseases Statistics

 

2.1 Overview

 

In Malaysia, the Employees Social Security Act 1969 empowers SOCSO to administer two schemes to compensate Malaysia workers who are earning less than RM2,000 for employment injury (which includes occupational diseases) and invalidity from any cause. Under the Employment Injury Insurance Scheme (EIIS), workers who are on four days away from work due to work related or occupational commuting accident is eligible for the benefits. The benefits cover medical benefits, temporary disablement benefits, permanent disablement benefit, constant attendance allowance, rehabilitation (artificial limb and other appliances), dependants’ benefit, funeral benefit and educational loan benefit. The Invalidity Pension Scheme is a non-occupational related scheme and is for member who has suffered from invalidity of a specific morbid condition of permanent nature and is unable to engage in any substantially gainful activity. To be eligible for the benefit, the member must be less than 55 years old and have made at least 24 contributions out of 40 months prior to the notice of invalidity, or in the case less than 24 contributions, there must be contributions for at least two-thirds of the total months. The benefits under this scheme include invalidity pension, provision of constant attendance allowance, rehabilitation benefits, funeral benefit, survivors’ benefit and educational loan benefits.

The Factories and Machinery Act 1967 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1974 require all cases of occupational injuries or diseases to be reported to the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). In 1993, all foreign workers were excluded from the SOCSO scheme and administered by the Department of Labor under Workmen Compensation Act 1952, with the private insurance company provide the insurance coverage.

2.2 Accident Statistics and Trends

SOCSO statistic which comprises all the active and registered workers are by far the most used source of data for occupational diseases and accidents in Malaysia. Based on SOCSO statistics, the number of industrial accident had increased from 51,340 in 1980 to 95,006 in 2000. Similarly, the number of industrial fatalities had also increased from 143 in 1980 to 1004 in 2000 (Table 9). This is mainly an evidence of the increased number of people covered under SOCSO.

In terms of per 1000 workers, the accidents in fact has declined since 1994 and has now hit a plateau at about 15 per 1000 workers in 2000 (Figure 1). This figure is higher than the developed countries such as Japan, European countries, UK and USA, which has an average of 5 reported accidents per 1000 worker, and Korea which represents a developing countries has 9 reported accidents per 1000 workers in 2000 (Paek et al, 2002). The sharp decline observed in 1994 could be contributed by the introduction of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, exclusion of foreign workers from the SOCSO scheme in 1993 and also during that time, SOCSO administration had changed the procedure for making compensation claim. The present plateau of the reported accident rate could be contributed by the small and medium sized industries which have poorer OSH resources and higher accident rate.

Injury statistic in 2000 showed that the highest number of accidents occur in the manufacturing sector, followed by commerce and agriculture / forestry / fishing sectors. In terms of number of fatalities, manufacturing recorded the highest with 282 cases followed by construction (159) and commerce sectors (151). This distribution was due to the fact that manufacturing employs a large population of the workforce. A comparison of case fatality rates is a better indication of how hazardous an industry is. The largest case fatality rates were noted in construction (3.3%), followed by transportation (2.1%), and mining and quarrying (1.8%) (Table 9).

In 2000, there were 4 cases of noise-induced hearing loss, 33 cases of occupational lung diseases, 55 cases of occupational skin diseases and 115 cases of occupational cancers. However, the workplace in which these diseases occurred was not documented.

The reporting of occupational diseases and accidents remains a problem in Malaysia. Under the Act, medical doctors are required to report to DOSH, however under reporting continues. These could be due to a number of factors such as (1) unable to diagnose occupational diseases or differentiating occupational and non-occupational diseases, (2) to safeguard the contractual agreement with the company which might be jeopardized by reporting to DOSH. Under reporting is more significant in the informal and small and medium sized industries, where workplace may be more hazardous and OSH awareness is low (Ng, 2001a). 

In 1996, Ministry of Health under the funding from World Bank has developed the guidelines for the diagnosis of occupational lung and skin diseases.

As of commuting accidents, there were 19,620 cases of commuting accidents in 2000 as compared to 14,771 cases in 1996 which is due to increased number of workers covered under SOCSO. In terms of per 10,000 workers, the number has increased from 36 per 10,000 workers in 1996 to 40 per 10,000 workers in 2000.

The issues of under reporting and the available of more comprehensive indicator representing Malaysian occupational accidents and diseases are noted by the authority. DOSH for example, has started the exercise to use the total number of employees by adding the total number of employee registered to the Department of Labor and SOCSO. For the source of accidents and diseases, it will come from these two organizations. More efforts are needed to standardize these statistics in order to make it comparable to other countries. For example, in the US, the occupational accidents and diseases are based on prevalent and severity rate per million workers.

 

There is also initiative by SOCSO to include the coverage for the self-employed person such as the professional and sole proprietary, and the rebate system to the employer for the zero accident reporting at their workplaces. Much of these still under discussion before it could be implemented. 

Table 9. Distribution of Accidents and Fatality Frequency by Sectors

Industry	Indicator	1977	1980	1985	1990	2000
Agricultural, forestry & fishing	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	374 7 18.7	5,550 5 0.9	1961 38 1.9	3897 134 3.4	1189 115 9.6
Mining & quarrying	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	924 11 11.9	1640 18 10.9	1563 21 13.4	2644 12 4.5	626 11 17.5
Manufacturing & processing	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	28,068 30 1.0	31,801 36 1.1	28,592 54 1.8	54,925 86 1.5	41,331 282 6.8
Electricity, gas, water & sanitary service	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	179 1 5.5	177 3 16.9	106 6 56.6	860 2 2.3	537 8 14.8
Construction	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	6807 44 6.4	3323 16 4.8	4069 28 6.8	3123 40 12.8	4873 159 32.6
Commerce	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	5312 15 2.8	4291 12 2.7	2843 21 7.3	13,893 38 2.7	15,452 151 9.7
Transportation	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	2231 25 11.2	931 24 25.7	1174 32 27.2	2800 27 9.6	4778 98 20.5
Financial & Insurance	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	4017 32 7.9	3627 29 7.9	3763 38 10.0	194 3 15.4	687 11 16.0
Services	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	- - -	- - -	- - -	569 5 8.7	6581 72 10.9
Civil Service	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	- - -	- - -	- - -	3126 40 12.7	8248 97 11.7
TOTAL	Accidents Fatality Case fatality	47,912 165 3.4	51,340 143 2.7	61,724 238 3.8	121,104 387 3.1	95,006 1004 10.5

Source: Rampal KG, 2002.

Figure 1. Accident per 1,000 workers in Malaysia from 1991 until 2000

      

 

 

 

 

 

                              

		The Introduction of OSHA 1994

 

 

 

                Source: SOCSO, 2000 (excluding commuting accident).

3.0 OSH Profile In Various Sectors

3.1 Construction Industry

Based on the SOCSO report in 2000, the case fatality rate in the construction industry in Malaysia was of more than 3 times of all workplaces (3.3% in construction sector compared to all workplaces of 1.1%). The higher incidence of injuries in the construction sector and the higher fatalities rates among construction workers has generally due to the fact that construction involves many activities associated with different hazards, weather condition and different jobs during the construction phase (Marchel, 1996). This sector is also called a 3D industry namely dirty, dangerous and dusty.

The common work hazards during construction are movement of vehicle (back hoe, trucks, tractors, forklift and cars); lifting vehicle (crane); working at height (scaffold and ladder); power tools and hand tools; electrical shock and burns; and roof work. Occupational health issues common to construction workers are manual handling that causes body strain and pain; heat stress; excessive noise exposure; dust exposure and insect bites where the construction site is an endemic area for dengue.

3.2 Manufacturing Industry

Under the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) list of industry, there are a number of manufacturing industries which are classified as manufacturing sector. The major manufacturing industries are electronic industry, automobile industry, textile industry, wood based industry, steel industry and petrochemical industry. Among these industries, the electronic industry is the major manufacturing sector.

3.2.1 Electronics Industry

In Malaysia, the history of the electronics industry can be traced back to 1972 when the first semiconductor factory was set up in Penang.  Semiconductor manufacturing is a chemical-intensive industry involving many potentially hazardous operations. There is a number of health hazards associated with the chemicals used such as skin problem, breathing difficulties and reproductive problem (Lin 1986; Lee, 1992 & Ng, 2001b). The common chemicals used in the semiconductor assembly are chemical solvents and cleaners such as trichloroethylene (TCE), isopropyl alcohol (IPA), acetone, freon, epoxy, acids and flux. The semiconductor fabrication, which is more hazardous than semiconductor assembly, is new in Malaysia and currently there are two factories involve in fabricating semiconductor chip.

Other occupational health issues are ergonomic risk factor due to repetitive work or prolong standing and shift work.

3.2.2 Textile Industry

Textile industry including the batik industry is known for the chemical hazards due to dye (Razlan et al, 2002). There are also cases of exposure to cotton dust and excessive noise from the weaving and ring spinning sections (Tan,1999).

 

3.2.3 Automobile Industry

 

Automobile industry is known for the OSH problem from the worker exposure to body strain and pain from material handling in casting and assembly sections and chemical from the paint shop. There are also heavy equipments used to make different vehicle parts and machinery hazards become an important issue (Rampal, 2002).

 

3.2.4 Steel Industry

 

The first steel factory built in Malaysia was in 1967 by the name of Malayawata Steel Berhad. Common OSH issues in this industry are heat stress and material handling. Heat stress is due to the heat release from molten and slag (Ismail NH, 1996 & Rampal, 2002).

 

3.2.5 Petro-chemical Industry

 

The first oil well in Malaysia was discovered by Shell on Canada Hill in Miri, Sarawak in 1910 (Jaya, 1996). The Petro-chemical industry is known to be a highly hazardous industry due to the big quantity of chemical being produced and processed. Some of these chemicals are toxic to human and also pose safety hazards such as fire, explosion and toxic release to the air. As such, this industry is governed by a stringent safety standard including the requirement to demonstrate safety management system.

3.3 Agricultural Industry

 

The common hazards for the agricultural industry are chemical hazards such as pesticide used and biological hazards. Farmers who used pesticides frequently without proper personal protective equipment will has reduced bood cholinesterase and the possible of poor nerve sensitivities (Uttaman, 1997).

 

3.4 Service Industry

 

The service industry covers a wide spectrum of sectors such as hotel, food catering, banking and finance and healthcare providers such as hospitals.

Common OSH issues among the hotel industries are ergonomic risk factor, indoor air quality and airborne contaminants such as Legionnella disease. Office safety is also an important issue such as trip and fall hazards from loose wire, office machinery and emergency evacuation.

 

Food services and catering is a booming business in Malaysia. The common OSH issues are from the kitchen due to improper use of kitchen equipment, heat stress and indoor air quality.

 

Healthcare personnel such as nurses experience occupational stress, back pain due to forceful bending and possible exposure to biological hazards such as HIV and hepatitis.

 

4.0 Conclusion

 

With the country experiencing greater economic growth, it is imperative for the government to protect the life of workers. The implementation and enforcement of the OSHA 1994 is viewed as a milestone development in the prevention of the occupational accidents and diseases in the country. The active role of the Ministry of Human Resources is complemented by other governmental or non-governmental agencies. By looking at the country’s OSH performance through accident indicators, there is still place for improvement in order to achieve the standard as in the developed countries.

 

Many initiatives are needed by the government such as increasing the number of inspection among the factories especially the small and medium sized industries which are prone to accident. Other program such as OSH week, National Safety Award and OSH roadshows which have been carried out are applaudable.

 

The participation of workers should be encouraged at different levels such as through the trade union and worker representatives in the OSH committee. It is good to note that the Danish Project with the MTUC is a success in promoting OSH at the workplace. MTUC with the support from SOCSO is now conducting OSH seminars to disseminate OSH information to the workers.  As DOSH is going to launch the OSH-MS based on ILO-OSH 2001 at the national level, a strong emphasis on worker participation is needed. It is good to see how worker participation at the workplace could be increased and enhanced. Increased workers participation at the company safety and health committee level is where OSH is going to be strengthened in the future.

 

With all such efforts working in tandem and at an increasing scale, it will help to improve OSH status in Malaysia and increase country productivity and GDP.

5.0 References

Annie FC. (29 Julai 2002). Large firms under scrutiny by DOSH. New Strait Times, pp1.

ILO.(1991). Profile on occupational safety and health in Malaysia. ILO: Bangkok.

ILO.(1993). Safety and health in the use of chemical at work: A training manual. ILO: Switzerland.

Ismail NH.(1996). Health hazards in the steel mills. In Rampal KG & Ismail NH (Ed). Occupational safety and health in Malaysia. (pp 108-114). Malaysia:NIOSH.

Jaya S.(1996). The development of occupational health in the oil industry. In Rampal KG & Ismail NH (Ed). Occupational safety and health in Malaysia. (pp 43-54). Malaysia:NIOSH.

Lee SH.(1984). Occupational and health hazards with reference to female workers. Paper presented at the UWA/APDC seminar on women and employment, Kuala Lumpur.

Lin Vivian.(1986). Health, women’s work and industrialization: women workers in the semiconductor industry in Singapore and Malaysia. Unpublished working paper, Dept of Health, New South Wales.

Marshel R.(1996). Construction safety. In Rampal KG & Ismail NH (Ed). Occupational safety and health in Malaysia. (pp 43-54). Malaysia:NIOSH.

Ng WK. (2001a). Definitions and importance of SMIs in Malaysia. Buletin NIOSH, 8(1):6.

Ng WK.(2001b). Occupational safety and health of women workers in semiconductor assembly in relation to chemical exposure. Master’s thesis. Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.

Ng WK, Maimunah Khalid.(August 2002). Follow-up Survey of OSH Performance Among Participating Companies in the WISE Project. Buletin NIOSH, 9(3): 7-8.

Paek DY, Hisanage N.(2002). Occupational health in South Korea. In LaDou J (Ed).Occupational medicine in industrializing countries.  (pp 391-408). Philadelphia:Hanley & Belfus,Inc.

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.

Rampal KG.(2002). Reproductive health hazards and its management in the manufacturing sector. IRPA 06-02-05-7011. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

Razlan M, Win KYI & Rampal KG. (2002). Safety and health in the batik industry. Selangor: Gabungan Penyelidik Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan.

Tan GL.(1999). An occupational health study in the textile industry in Malaysia. Research Perspectives in Occupational Health and Ergonomics in Asia. Pp 310-324.

Uttaman B. (1997). The effects of pesticide on the enzyme cholinesterase and current perception threshold of the paddy farmers in the agricultural district of Muda, Kedah. Degree’s thesis. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia.

Wan Muthiah.(21 Dec 2002). ILO input helps shape safety system.

The Star, pp 6.

Webpages

Department of Statistics Malaysia. (Dec 25, 2002), at http://www.statistics.gov.my

Department of Occupational Safety and Health, (Dec 25, 2002), at http://www.dosh.gov.my

Social Security Organisation, (Dec 25, 2002), at http://www.perkeso.gov.my

Construction Industry Development Board, (Dec 26, 2002), at http://www.cidb.gov.my

International Labour Organization, (Dec 27, 2002), at http://www.ilo.com

 Official Malaysian Publication

 

SOCSO. (2001). Annual report 2000. Kuala Lumpur: Affluent Master.

 

International Law Book Service. (1999). Factories & Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139) & Regulations and Rules. Selangor: Percetakan Ihsan.

 

International Law Book Service. (1999). Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514) & Regulations and Rules. Selangor: Percetakan Ihsan.