The construction industry is an important industry in the Malaysian’s economy. Much has been said about the quality of the product as well as the image of the industry due to the small percentage of local workers on site. The industry’s welfare and safety record is not at all encouraging. To stop the rot, the government has taken important and significant steps by the establishment of the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). These efforts have shown some significant positive improvement in the perception and action of those involved in the industry but we are still far from the standard shown in other developed countries in terms of site safety. This paper is to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the key players in the industry be it the clients, consultants or contractors. The focus is on the ‘upstream’ activities i.e. the pre-construction stage, rather than the ‘downstream’ i.e. the construction phase of a project.