Work shift has been shown to correlate with accident rates. Understanding of such correlation is pertinent especially among emergency response personnel since the decisions that they make determines not only the outcome of their responses but also the risks of accidents to themselves. A questionnaire data derived study used together with a semi quantitative risk analysis method was adopted to estimate the levels of accident risks between firefighters working on two work shifts. Two hundred and forty eight Malaysia’s Fire and Rescue Department firemen from 24 fire stations working on shifts were selected as respondents. The accident rate among firefighters in year 2006 was 52.8 %. Results showed that the Accident Risk Index (ARI) among firefighters working the 24 hours shift was higher (ARI = 3.14) compared with those in the 12 hours shift (ARI = 2.98). However, there were no significant difference in overall severity of the accidents between the two shifts (p>0.05). The difference in risk levels was attributed to the difference in the likelihood of accident occurrence.
Construction industry is one of the major contributors towards Malaysian economy and socio-economy. It is an important
industry gearing Malaysia towards developed nation status. However, fatalities in this industry are a crucial problem. Number of
fatalities in this industry is the highest compare to other industries registered in Malaysia. The contributing factors can be separated
into immediate (human and worksite elements) and underlying (management and external). Occupational safety and health (OSH)
management is a challenge in the construction industry due to its hazardous nature. A framework of construction OSH management
consisting of policy, process, personnel and incentive elements were tested. 13 respondents from 13 residential projects comprising of
high-rise and low-rise in Pulau Pinang were interviewed. It was found that the immediate factors are being more recognized by the
respondents compare to the underlying factors. Human element is perceived as the most significant contributor, while the external
element is the least significant. In terms of construction OSH management, process and personnel elements are the most significant in
developing an effective OSH management programme.
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.
Licensed person is a third party who was awarded a license to perform statutory inspection for certificated
machinery under the provision of section 40 (1A), Factories and Machinery Act (Amendment) (FMA) 2006. The
objectives of the study is to identify issues related to statutory inspection in Malaysia and to make comparisons with
respect to the statutory inspection by Licensed Person adopted by other countries. The enforcement of Licensed
Person in Malaysia is still in not yet implemented although Section 40 (1A) in FMA (Revision) 2006 regulating on
Licensed Person had been introduced on 2006 and compared with other countries especially our neighboring country
Singapore. Based on the DOSH inspection data analysis, the main issues relating to statutory inspection in Malaysia
is the increment in backlog cases due to lack of number officers compare to the number of registered certificated
machineries in Malaysia. As a conclusion, the implementation of Licensed Person is crucial in Malaysia to reduce the
work and financial burden of Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) officer in enforcing FMA 1967
and also to improve the quality of statutory inspection for the safety in workplace.