New Regulations To Manage Worksites Safety Soon

PETALING JAYA, March 7 (Bernama) -- The Human Resources Ministry, through the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh), is in the final stage of introducing a set of regulations which will require employers to manage safety and health at worksites systematically.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn said one of the main elements in the regulations was the requirement for employers to conduct hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control at construction sites.
"With this requirement, hazards and health risks at worksites can be identified, assessed and controlled during the planning and at various other stages of a project's development," he said at a dialogue with the construction industry players here Tuesday.
He said that Dosh would conduct briefings to explain the regulations when they were ready for implementation.
He said Dosh had set policies and strategies to ensure safety and health in construction sites.
One of the strategies was to take legal action on repeated cases of non-compliance with the law and regulations.
To further improve safety at worksites, the ministry would look at the suggestion that the safety aspect be taken as a separate entity from the tender.
"In any tender, the contractor is usually chosen because of the lowest cost but the suggestion is that the safety component should be taken out from the competitive bidding and everybody uses a standardised sum. I think it is a good idea," he said.
Currently, it was part of the tender and the contractor could reduce the allocation for safety to cut costs, he added.
"This is a major policy decision. I will present this subject to the cabinet after getting feedback from the contractors," he said.
The dialogue involved developers, architects, contractors, the local authorities and non-governmental organisations.