Occupational safety and health construction industry management (OSHCIM): current practice in Malaysia

Abstract

The accident occurred in the construction industry is reportedly the third-highest after manufacturing and agriculture industry. The percentage of accident cases and fatality ratios in the Malaysian construction industry are getting larger and gradually increasing each year. This data indicates that the safety and health performance in the Malaysian construction industry appears to be weak. Henceforth, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (DOSH) through government initiative has introduced and published a guideline on Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) 2017. This guideline aims to decrease 50% of the fatality rates in the construction industry by 2020. Therefore, this paper sought to review the current OSHCIM practice in Malaysia construction industry towards the OSHCIM implementation. This study adopted a quantitative approach in conducting the data collection and the data analysis process. A set of a questionnaire developed, tested and distributed to the construction stakeholders, i.e. client, designer, safety and health officer, contractor, and enforcer. The results discovered that the OSHCIM concept already being “Practice” by the construction stakeholders in Malaysia in terms of the (1) management, and (2) standard operating procedure elements. Thus, this study shows that the construction stakeholders were currently practising the OSHCIM concept but with different procedure and approach. In conclusion, the implementation of OSHCIM in Malaysia construction industry is foreseen to be well accepted as most of the stakeholders are familiar with the concept of design for safety.