The increase in Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) cases in the context of manufacturing industry in Malaysia in
the recent years has become a national concern. Therefore, the study aims to compare the severity of the WMSDs cases
involving electronic workers by using survey, interview, observation and experimental methods. The questionnaire
was designed and distributed to 204 assembly workers performing printer and inserting semiconductor in the electronic
sector. The ergonomic risk was assessed through direct observation of workers’ posture at their workstation using
WERA. In addition, Electromyogram (EMG) analysis was used to measure the muscle activity of workers. The result
shows that standing workers are exposed to consistent MSD more than sitting workers in all body regions except for
the upper back. According to WERA results, both postures contribute to high risk of MSD especially at wrist and leg
regions. In conclusion, there is a significant correlation in the findings from the survey, observation and EMG analysis
about the prevalence of MSDs among the workers, although the degree of prevalence differs in some body regions.
Hence, there is a need to identify more interacting variables associated with the problem.
This study develops a Road Safety Index (RSI) for commercial bus with the aim of determining whether the
proposed index can be beneficial to the stakeholders for the purpose of mitigating road accident and promoting road
safety. Five risk factors which include drivers, Vehicle, Task, Hazard/Risk and Road, where three critical factors out of
these factors, were identified as high contributing factors (Drivers, Vehicle and Road) were selected for the construction
of RSI. Drivers risk perceptions data were collected using survey instrument with sample size (n= 465) to test the
model and the data fits the model perfectly. The main benefits of this approach and the subsequent development of
RSI are: (1) Enable organisations to justify the investment on road safety by providing a measurement and evaluation
mechanism. (2) The index provides a balanced view of the impact of the three critical (DVR) risk factors that the
management can improve upon.
The main purpose of this study was to establish the comfort zone for bus drivers in a seated position. In addition, this study is to investigate the seated pressure distribution among Malaysian bus drivers. The study consists of 10 bus drivers randomly selected to be a part of this study. The FSA pressure mat was utilized in order to investigate the force distribution of buttock to the seat pan of the drivers’ seat. This device is placed on the driver seat and backrest. Later, the subject would sit on for several minute. The finding reveals that most of the bus drivers feel discomfort by having low back pain and musculoskeletal disorder. The seat pressure distribution of Malaysian busses indicated that the seat not able to absorb high pressure generated from buttock that later may cause the discomfort and restricted the performance of drivers.
Malaysia has the highest road fatality risk (per 100,000 populations) compared to other ASEAN nations and more than 50% of the road accident fatalities involving motorcyclists. Hence, this becomes the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years. The most common cause of fatalities involving motorcyclist is the head injury., This present study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice on helmet usage among secondary school students in Kuantan. A descriptive cross-sectional design (two months of data collection) was used in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to 200 participants from two schools in Kuantan. The main finding of this study suggests that common reason for the participants to wear a helmet is that ‘it can save a life’. Besides that, the poor practice regarding helmet usage was also found as only 4.5% of them wore the helmet all the time. However, the overall result showed that most of the participants have a good knowledge and positive attitude regarding utilization of helmet.
The indoor air contaminations in the buildings are normally contributed by causes from humans, animals and air
borne fungi. These factors greatly cause the problem of sick building syndrome and indoor air pollutant. This study
was undertaken to discover the potential efficiency of biocide potassium sorbate to remediate the indoor air fungal
especially on wood material. Samples of fungal were collected according to NIOSH Method (NMAM 0800). The total
amount of fungi and bacteria were enumerated at 806 cfu/m3 and 280 cfu/m3, respectively in a lecturer’s room. The
study also revealed that the growth of fungi was at the minimum when incorporated with a biocide treatment according
to ASTM D559000 standard. This biocide has been proven to be effective and able to reduce the growth rate of indoor
fungi. Overall results showed that this type of biocide is effective to overcome the fungal problem on wood material
in the buildings.
According to annual reports from the Social Security Organization (SOCSO), between years 2009 and 2011,
metal industry has the highest reported number of accidents compared to the other manufacturing industry in small
and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the actual causes of problems that
lead to the accidents involving metal industries within SMEs. In this study, a checklist through site visits was used to
collect the data. The overall results revealed that the main causes of accidents are; organization failure, human factor,
machine failure and surrounding environments.
The accident rate in metalworking industries does show a slight reduction over the years. However, it is still so
much higher compared to those of the other industries. Despite the various incentives provided by the government of
Malaysia to improve this situation, the problems still remain. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the commitment
and implementation of occupational safety and health (OSH) aspect in the metal working industries. A survey was
carried out by posting a total of 550 questionnaires to metal manufacturing companies throughout Malaysia. As
many as 131 questionnaires were returned and a statistical analysis was done. Results of the analysis show that the
employers’ commitment for safety operations is high but the implementation of OSH programmes is poor due to lack
of resources and OSH knowledge.
frequency of motorcycle accidents increases every year. In Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS), a substantial number of motorcycle accidents occurred between the year 2009 and 2013. The increased number of accidents serves as a wake-up call to the company to come up with a behavioural-based safety system for commuting accident. The objective of this paper is to look into the effectiveness of behavioural-based system in a company. A total of one hundred and thirty (130) respondents participated in the data-collection session for this study. From this data-collection, along with accident data from the company, a number of criteria that contributes to commuting accidents in the company is obtained. At the end of this study, the behavioural-based safety system is applied, thus showing how its implementation assists in curbing the issue of commuting accidents in the company.
The trends of safety incident process have been put in the statistical research and development in order to prevent
and mitigate the phenomenon. One of the incidents is known as dust explosion. It represents a constant hazard to
industries which includes any manufacturing using and handling combustible dust materials. Lack of sharing and
know-how on best practices in managing the workplace must be avoided throughout the industries. The severity and
the consequences of not taking the safety precautions at workplace have not been foreseen by the process team. This
present paper discusses the best practices in managing the hazards from the catastrophes to happen again. In addition,
the mitigation response has also been explored thoroughly through database of best practices.
Industries in Malaysia are entering a period of major disruption caused by new technologies such as Artificial Intelligent, Robotics, Blockchain, Nanotechnology as well as Building Information Modelling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT). In this fourth industrial revolution where information is generated and exchanged at a rapid and huge scale, its reliability is of paramount importance. The success of Occupational Safety & Health Management System (OSHMS) is highly dependent on the reliability of the information gathered and used, where a large number of intermediaries authenticate the information to establish trust between the stakeholders. Blockchain technology is able to do verification by virtue of secured distributed storage brings about a paradigm shift in the way we establish trust. This paper gives an overview of the potential use of Blockchain technology for Occupational Safety & Health Management System. The discussions focused on the benefits and challenges of implementing the Blockchain technology in OSHMS. The conclusion is drawn based on the strength in the characteristics provided by the Blockchain technology itself.
Emergency in a major hazard installation may cause extensive damage to property and serious disruption both inside and outside the installation. The overall objectives of an emergency plan are: to localise the emergency and, if possible, eliminate it; and to minimise the effects of the accident on people and property. The off-site emergency plan is an integral part of any major hazard control system. In many countries the duty to prepare the off-site plan lies with the local authorities, including Malaysia. Thus, the preparations of written off-site emergency response planning is required to minimize the impact of major accident to the people , property and environment.
The construction industry is one of the largest sectors in Malaysia. This industry has become one of the main contributors
for national economic development and consistently contributes 3% to 5% to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This
sector has also opened up job opportunities for various levels of employment. High demands and rapid urbanization offer huge
opportunities for registered contractors. Despite contributing in enhancing national economics, this sector has been regarded as one
of the most dangerous and hazardous workplaces due to the type of nature and the job activities at construction sites. According to
the International Labour Organization (ILO), 2.3 million fatalities related to occupational accidents and illnesses are estimated to
occur each year. Furthermore, 4 percent of world GDP is estimated to be lost due to occupational accidents and illnesses. The number
of fatality accidents in the construction industry was the highest with 652 cases of non-permanent disability (NPD) and permanent
disability (PD) accidents in the period 2007 to 2015, equivalent to 72.44 cases per year and representing 48.77% of the construction
industry. The huge gap between the number of accidents reported to SOCSO and DOSH becomes a major concern due to a rising
number of underreported cases of fatalities and injury in the construction sector, especially those involving foreign labour. The margin
between accidents reported to SOCSO and DOSH is 97.49%. Regards to rapid developments, safety measures to improve performance
management of OSH should be emphasized to reduce losses of life, property and productivity.
Disaster can strike at any time on a small or large scale, but if an institution is prepared, the damage may be reduced or avoided. A disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a society, causing widespread human, material, or environmental losses which exceed the ability of affected society to cope using only its own resources. Disasters are often classified according to their speed of onset (sudden or ‘slow burning’), or according to their cause (natural or man-made). There is no single and specific method in handling a disaster. The application and method of disaster management do not only depend on types, location and levels of disaster, but also depend on the effectiveness and good system of management as well as the total commitment of first responders and disaster managers involved in handling a disaster. National Security Council Directive No. 20 is both a proactive and reactive generic plan to manage disasters in Malaysia. It is an integrated disaster management plan in mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
There were a number of accidents reported throughout the implementation of the National Services Training
Programme (NSTP) since 2004 until 2012. The National Services Training Department (NSTD) is responsible for
the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) aspects in the NSTP camps. The study was conducted with its objective
to compare the levels of OSH audit compliance at NSTP between 2011 and 2012. A cross sectional method was
used, involving a total of 67 randomly selected NSTP camps. The data analysis was conducted on two types of
audit checklists using SPSS version 2.1. The r-value of 0.197 obtained indicates a weak relationship between the
document review and physical training element. The p-value of 0.118, meanwhile, shows that there is no statistically
significant correlation between the results of document review and physical training element. Most of the elements
show an increased percentage of compliance as a result of initiatives taken by the Camp Training Management and
the Camp Operator. Despite an improved compliance level seen from 2011 to 2012, NSTD should look into certain
critical elements considered high risk by the regulatory requirements. NSTD should also continue with its initiatives
to enhance safety and health aspects in NSTP camps not only for the benefit of the trainees but also for themselves.
Workplace accident is still prevalent in the Malaysian industry sector. Although statistics indicates that the number of
accidents in the workplace is showing signs of decrease over the last five years, there is still room for improvements. According to
report, a majority of the workplace accidents in Malaysia happened in Small and Medium Enterprise (SME). This shows that SME is
still lagging behind in ensuring the safety of their workplace. This can disrupt their business activities as workplace accidents bring
several negative effects. Therefore, this study explores the use of safety training to foster safety behaviour among employees. Surveys
were distributed to employees working in SME, Northern Corridor of Economic Region (NCER). The data was analysed and results
were presented. Suggestions to management in SME are made at the end of the paper.
Fire emergencies are threat to the occupants of a residential college. Some of the Malaysian residential colleges were built in the 1970s. Back then, the compliancy to Uniform Building By-law 1984 was not entirely practiced. This study aims to evaluate fire safety measures in selected residential colleges of a Malaysian University, which were built before 1984. This includes occupants’ level of awareness and knowledge of the occupants regarding fire safety measures. This study was conducted in selected residential colleges, built before 1984, which were named as A, B, C, and D Colleges. One new college building was selected to be the control variable, the E College. Survey questionnaires were given to 401 respondents to obtain information regarding the fire safety awareness and knowledge. Fire safety inspections were conducted to determine the level of fire safety protection systems in colleges and the documentation of emergency response plan were reviewed. From the study, the level of fire safety awareness among the occupants were higher compared to their fire safety knowledge. Fire safety inspection result indicated that overall buildings inspected complies with the local regulation while safety documentation reviews were satisfactorily adequate. Overall, the score for fire safety measures in all selected colleges were sufficient and in good condition. This study is significant for those in the field of safety and health practice pertaining to fire safety engineering and regulations, to plan for better and more efficient fire hazard and risk assessment.
This study aims to determine the awareness level of safety
management and safety behavior among SMEs workers. Safety management as a
subsystem in the overall management of the organization. It is designed to control
hazards that can affect the safety and health of workers. Small and Medium Enterprise
(SMEs) in Malaysia continue to face many challenges both traditionally and new.
80% to 90% of occupational accidents occurred involving worker of SMEs industry.
A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the involved small medium
industries. Questionnaires form that consist of three sections, namely socio
demographic, safety management and safety behavior. This study was conducted at
selected SMEs located in Klang Valley. 226 workers responded. In order to interpret
the level of awareness among the respondents, a 3-level scale (High: 3.68 – 5.00,
Moderate: 2.34 – 3.67, Low: 1.00 – 2.33) based on the mean score was used suggested
by Ashari & Mahmood. The findings show that the highest level of awareness was
safety behavior while the lowest awareness level was safety promotion policy
respectively. Findings also showed that, there were moderate correlation between
safety management and safety behavior. Understanding the concept of the OSH
management system will help us to understand the application of OSH management
system in Malaysia. OSH Management very important to prevent accident, ill health
& injury at workplace towards development of safety culture.
This retrospective study was conducted at the audiology clinic of UKM in the year 2000. It was intended to detect the effect of walkman on the hearing system of its users and to investigate whether distortion product otoacoustic emission test can provide an early and reliable sign of cochlear damage or not. Distortion product otoacoustic emission test helps to determine the function of outer hair cell. Outer hair cells get damaged with exposure to loud sound, drugs and aging. Thirty subjects (20 in the study group and 10 in the control group), between the ages of 19-25 years, who fulfilled all the criteria of selection, were investigated. There were two sets of criteria (general and specific). Anyone, in the control or study group, failing in any of these criteria was excluded from the study. According to the general criteria, it was essential for all the subjects to have clean ear canals, normal hearing at all the frequencies (250Hz- 8000Hz), normal middle ear function (Type A tympanogram), no middle ear problem, not used/using any ototoxic medicine, no family history of hearing loss, no history of ear surgery, not exposed to any form of loud noise like disco, concert, F1 racing or gun shooting. According to the special criteria it was essential for the subjects in the control group to have never used a walkman and those in the study group must have been using a walkman for at least 6 months. Comparison of distortion product emission levels between control and study groups revealed that emissions were significantly lower in the study group, across all the frequencies, suggesting outer hair cell damage in the walkman users. These differences reached level of statistical significance (p<0.05) at 2, 4, 6 and 8kHz. Using walkman at an intensity unsafe for hearing and a duration longer than recommended is suspected for the outer hair cell damage in our study group. Those using walkman for longer duration and higher intensity manifested much lower emission levels. Our study supports the literature that distortion product emission test is a much sensitive test than pure-tone audiometry, as it can detect cochlear damage long before it appears in an audiogram. It is recommended that people who are exposed to loud noise regularly should be monitored with distortion product emission test. It is suggested that the use of walkman.
Study site: Audiology clinic, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Regulation on occupational safety and health in Malaysia had evolved from the prescriptive Factory and Machinery Act (1967) to a self-regulated Occupational Safety and Health Act (1994). However, from the authors’ observation the high standards of occupational safety and health culture that surpass the legal requirement were not widely practiced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The two main objectives of this study are: first, to identify and determine the level of conformity; and second, to investigate the reasons of nonconformity to Occupational Safety and Health Act (1994) regulation in SMEs involved the chemical industry sub-sectors. The survey questionnaire was distributed to 150 SMEs in chemical industry sub-sectors. Forty one of the survey questionnaires were completed and returned, giving a response rate of 27.3% for the survey. The survey results revealed that an overwhelming majority (92.7%) of the respondents from SMEs are likely not conforming to the basic requirement of Occupational Safety and Health Act (1994). In addition to this, the survey also found that only 3.1% of the management personnel can be considered competent in terms of knowledge, skill and ability in carrying out occupational safety and health regulation within their respective organization. While, 96.9% of the respondents that participated in the survey can be considered not competent. The authors hope the result of this survey could assist the relevant authorities in formulating a better policy and strategy for implementing occupational safety and health in SMEs involved in chemical industry sub-sectors.
Malaysia is blessed with oil and gas resources, which form raw materials for the petrochemical industry. The petrochemical industry creates added value to this resource and is an important contributor to the national economy. The petrochemical industry however also creates hazards of which fire or explosions and chemical release are of special concern. These hazards pose a risk not only to workers but also to the surrounding population and environment. To ensure industry is prepared to cope with emergencies, a comprehensive emergency response programme is necessary. This is inline with both the Malaysian Occupational Safety and Health (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards) Regulations 1996 and the Responsible Care initiative of the chemical industry. This paper describes elements to be considered in an emergency response programme for industry such as the concept of emergency management, organisation, duties and responsibilities, emergency system, training and mutual aid plans and agreements. We shall provide related examples based on a multinational petrochemical company practice.