A key function of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) is to conduct promotional and publicity activities to workers, employers and the general public in order to foster and enhance awareness of occupational safety and health (OSH).
By disseminating information and providing guidance regarding safety and health at the workplace, the department strives to ensure compliance with all OSH laws in Malaysia.
As the economy reopens with the country’s transition into COVID-19 endemicity, DOSH Sarawak is ramping up promotional efforts to industries in Sarawak on the importance of OSH for their employees, whether through talks, mass media or social media updates via its official Facebook page.
Recently, it is informing them on the upcoming Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2020, which when fully enforced in June 2023 will see employers facing stiffer fines and prison sentences should they fail to guarantee their workers safety and health protection.
“People are aware of the need for safety and health, but there will be times that they forget. So it’s good to remind them about it,” says DOSH Sarawak director Ir. Dr. Nor Halim bin Hasan in an interview with RAKAN Sarawak.
Industry Engagement Leads to Localised Initiatives
DOSH Sarawak is responsible in ensuring the safety, health and welfare of persons at work, as well as to protect others from safety and health hazards arising from employment activities of various economic sectors in Sarawak.
According to Ir. Dr. Nor Halim, the department is presently prioritising high-risk industries that include oil and gas, high-rise building construction, agriculture and chemical.
While it administers and enforces laws and regulations pertaining to OSH in Malaysia, DOSH Sarawak has been collaborating with industry players to develop and implement programmes unique to Sarawak, fundamentally to reduce the number of deaths and keep accident rates to the minimum in related sectors.
“(Through these initiatives) We hope that we can help the industry to manage safety and health at the workplace,” he adds.
Generic HIRARC Workshop For Shipbuilding Sector
First carried out in 2019, the workshop is part of the generic Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control (HIRARC) programme for the shipbuilding sector, particularly in Sibu for it has the most number of shipbuilding factories in Malaysia.
It comes after a lengthy engagement between DOSH Sarawak and more than 40 shipbuilders in Sibu under the Sibu Shipyard Association that began in 2018, following a series of audits by the department that discovered the lack of OSH system being implemented at workplaces of the heavy sector.
The collaboration between the department and the association has also led to the release of a generic HIRARC guideline for the shipbuilding sector, designed as reference for employers to improve the safety and health of their organisations, more so in terms of risk assessment.
OSH Strengthening Programme For Logging Sector
Implemented since 2020, the OSH Strengthening Programme for the logging sector in Sarawak sees the cooperation between DOSH Sarawak, Forest Department Sarawak, Sarawak Timber Association and Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation, involving 12 major logging companies.
It is designed to increase the level of OSH among employees, especially OSH-related compliance through the development of OSH training module in the sector.
It also aims to provide an understanding of OSH through training so that employers can train their own workers, as well as to plan the direction of OSH in the logging and forestry sector in the State.
OSH Guideline in Coal Mining Sector
In 2021, DOSH Sarawak worked together with Sarawak Energy to develop an OSH guideline for the coal mining sector in Sarawak.
Ir. Dr. Nor Halim explains that the guideline, which focuses on the management of safety and health, is created as a “document of compliance” and is nearly completed.
“In its final stage, we will present it to the Premier (of Sarawak). So after the Premier agrees to the guideline, it will be available to the State and all industry players in coal mining to comply with,” he adds.
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Examples of DOSH Promotional and Publicity Activities
- Giving talks and explanations as well as training on occupational safety and health
- Organising campaigns and exhibitions on occupational safety and health
- Providing expertise on occupational safety and health to public agencies, the private sector, associations of employers and employees, as well as professional bodies
- Collecting and providing informational materials on occupational safety and health for reference, lending and dissemination
Source: Department of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia
