Machinery Act 1964 ( Act 139 ) in order to eliminate the legislation gaps between the two Acts . This will improve the effectiveness of the Act in terms of enforcement .
OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ) applies to all places of work
The new OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ) will apply to all places of work throughout Malaysia except for domestic servants , armed forces and those who work onboard ships , in contrast with the existing OSHA which only applied to specific industries . This means that employees working from home are protected under this new Act , in line with the recent increase in remote working from home .
Section 1 : Subsection ( 2 ) Subject to subsection ( 3 ), this Act shall apply to all places of work throughout Malaysia including in the public services and statutory authorities ; ( where Subsection 3 excludes domestic servants , armed forces and those who work onboard ships as specified in Schedule 1 )
Duties of Principal
One of the main amendments of the Act is the introduction of the duty of a “ Principal ”, where the new Act defines and explains the duties of the principal owner or developer who engages the contractors or sub-contractors or employees in terms of the safety and health obligations . A new Section 18A is added in the new OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ):
Section 18A
18A . ( 1 ) It shall be the duty of every principal to take , so far as is practicable , such measures as are necessary to ensure the safety and health of — ( a ) any contractor engaged by the principal when at work ; ( b ) any subcontractor or indirect subcontractor when at work ; and
( c ) any employee employed by such contractor or subcontractor when at work .
Duty to conduct and implement risk assessment
The new amended Act has specific provisions that impose the duty to the employer , self-employed or principal to conduct risk assessment and implement risk control at the place of work . This is of paramount importance , to ensure that issues related to the safety and health is foreseen and taken into consideration at the initial planning and design stage . In this regard , the Guidelines for Hazard Identification , Risk Assessment and Risk Control 2008 , published by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health , will be a useful reference for the employer , self-employed or principal . A new Section 18B is added in the new OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ):
Section 18B
18B . ( 1 ) Every employer , self-employed person or principal shall conduct a risk assessment in relation to the safety and health risk posed to any person who may be affected by his undertaking at the place of work .
( 2 ) Where a risk assessment indicates that risk control is required to eliminate or reduce the safety and health risk , the employer , selfemployed person or principal shall implement such control .
( 3 ) For the purposes of this section , “ risk assessment ” means the process of evaluating the risks to safety and health arising from hazards at work and determining the appropriate measures for risk control .
Duty to develop and implement emergency procedures
OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ) also imposes a new duty on employers , self-employed persons and principals to develop and implement procedures to deal with emergencies that may arise in the course of the employees ’ work . A new clause ( f ) is added to Section 18A – Subsection ( 3 ) in the new OSHA ( Amendment 2022 ):
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