The amendments introduced by the “ Occupational Safety and Health ( Amendment ) Act 2022 ” and the “ Factories and Machinery ( Repeal ) Act 2022 ” which were gazetted by Parliament on March 16 , 2022 are yet to be enforced . Nonetheless , it is wise for employers to play proactive role and be prepared for the upcoming changes .
Table 5 : Example of HIRARC Source : Guidelines for HIRARC , 2008 , Department of Occupational Safety and Health , Ministry of Human Resource
methodology to capture the risk at work and take necessary action to manage them . It starts by listing down the steps of a specific job , evaluate the safety and health risk for each step , and determine the preventive measure to manage the risks . Moreover , one can strategically utilize the “ Hierarchy of Control ” which comprise of “ Elimination ”, “ Substitution ”, “ Engineering Control ”, “ Administrative Control ” or “ PPE ” concept to address any potential concern . It is crucial to take note that JSA should involve the workers executing the job and conduct thorough discussion as they are the ones directly exposed to the hazard .
Basically , HIRARC uses similar concept as JSA with additional qualitative risk assessment element . Each safety and health risk will be evaluated on the likelihood to occur and severity using the specific formula “ Risk = Likelihood x Severity ”. Both “ Likelihood ” and “ Severity ” will have pre-assigned rating , allowing one to determine the risk level ( High , Medium , or Low ). With the Risk level understood , the team can implement the control measures and prioritize them accordingly . It is wise to repeat the HIRARC on the same job after a certain period even with the control measures implemented , as the team can identify new risk if the situation changes . Clearly , HIRARC is a better approach than JSA , nonetheless it all depends on organisational due diligence .
The amendments introduced by the “ Occupational Safety and Health ( Amendment ) Act 2022 ” and the “ Factories and Machinery ( Repeal ) Act 2022 ” which were gazetted by Parliament on March 16 , 2022 are yet to be enforced . Nonetheless , it is wise for employers to play proactive role and be prepared for the upcoming changes .
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