OSHA 1994
AND FMA 1967
Chapter 4 (cont.)
OSHA 1994

The aims of this Act are
to secure the safety, health and welfare of persons at work
against risks to safety or health arising out of the activities of
persons at work
 to protect person at a place of work other than persons at
work against risks to safety or health arising out of the
activities of persons at work
 to promote an occupational environment for persons at work
which is adapted to their physiological and psychological
needs


to provide the means whereby the associated occupational
safety and health legislation may be progressively replaced
by a system of regulations and approved industry codes of
practice operating in combination with the provisions of this
Act designed to maintain or improve the standards of safety
and health.
IMPORTANCE OF THE ACT

The Act is necessary to overcome the limitations of
the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (FMA 1967)
in the following aspects:
 Scope
of Application
 Prescriptive Provisions
 Approach
Scope of Application

The scope of FMA 1967 only covers 24 percent of
the total labor workforce (i.e. 6.8 million in year
1980) nationwide. Those protected are workers in
the sectors defined as a factory namely:
 Manufacturing
 Mining
and Quarrying
 Construction
Prescriptive Provisions



The Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (FMA 1967)
provides prescriptive provisions, of which, over time,
became irrelevant.
The provisions provide in detail the necessary actions to
be taken to prevent occurrence of accidents.
For example, the provision requires all machinery parts
to be strictly guarded according to the specifications
stated under the Factories and Machinery (Fencing of
Machinery and Safety) Regulations 1970.
Approach



The approach of the Act was based on the traditional
method of using a checklist system.
The checklist system puts emphasis on workers, system
of work, machineries and working environment by
preventing accidents and industrial diseases.
This approach gave the impression that the
responsibility of occupational safety and health purely
lies in government controls, resulting in industries
becoming too dependent on the government
regulations.


At the same time, accident statistic in other sectors
were high not covered under the FMA 1967
recorded alarming rates, especially fatality and
permanent disability cases.
This urged the government to draft an additional
piece of law in order to control these activities.
PHILOSOPHY AND PRINCIPLES



The philosophy and principles of this Act differs
from the prescriptive nature of the Factories and
Machinery Act.
The Act address the responsibility to ensure a safe
and healthy workplace lies with those who create
the risk and those who work with the risk.
This philosophy advocates three main principles:
 Self
regulation
 Consultation
 Worker cooperation and participation




The provision of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 are
based on the self-regulation scheme. Its primary responsibility is to
ensure safety and health of work lies with those who create the
risks and those who work with the risks.
Through self-regulating scheme that is designed to suit the
particular industry or organization, this Act also aims to establish
effective safety and health organization and performance.
The concept of self-regulation encourages cooperation, consultation
and participation of employees and management in efforts to
upgrade the standards of safety and health at the workplace.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is enforced by the
Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), a
government department under the Ministry of Human Resources
Malaysia.
FACTORIES AND MACHINERY ACT 1967
(ACT 139)


The Factories and Machinery Act was enacted in
1967 as Act 64. It was revised on 1st April 1974
and amended to the Laws of Malaysia Act 139.
The objectives of the Act:
 To
provide control on factories to secure safety, health
and welfare of person therein
 For the purpose of registration and inspection of
machinery and for matters connected therewith

Application
 OSHA
1994 supersedes the FMA 1967 in the event of
any conflict
 FMA 1967 applies to mainly factories and construction
sites
 FMA and OSHA –enabling act (give power to minister
to gazette detail regulations)
 Contains some general provision on safety, health and
welfare

Application
 FMA-limited
to manufacturing industry, mining and
quarrying and construction
 do not contain detail provisions on specific matters
 Detail provisions are stipulated under the regulations

Arrangement
 FMA
1967 divided into 6 parts:
 Part
1: Preliminary
 Part 2: Safety, health and welfare
 Part 3: Persons-in-charge and certificates of competency
 Part 4: Notification of accidents, dangerous occurrence and
dangerous diseases
 Part 5: Notice of occupation of factory and registration and
use of machinery
 Part 6: General
Part 1: Preliminary
 Definition of a factory:
There must be premises and its boundaries can be defined;
 Within the premises there is manual labor doing process
 The process must involve the making, altering, repairing,
ornamenting, finishing, cleaning, washing, breaking up
demolition or adapting for sale any article; and Part I –
building operations, hoisting machine, machinery, steam
 The processes must be for trading.



Factory may be defined as any premises or part of
a premises where trade for the purposes of gain to
any business, where 5 or more persons employed.
Factory covers all places of work using machinery
including building operations and works of
engineering construction.
Part 2: Safety, Health and Welfare
 Key points:
 Premises
must be structurally sound with safe access to
work areas, materials and goods must be safely
stacked (Section 10)
 Machinery must be of sound construction and
dangerous parts must be fenced(Section 14, 15, 16)
 Employees must not misuse safety and health
equipment(Section 20)
 Employees not to endanger himself or other person
 Premises
must be kept in clean state, with adequate
work space, ventilation, lighting and toilets (Section 22)
 Persons must be supplied with adequate facilities for
clothing, storage, drinking, water, first aid and washing
facilities (Section 25)
 Employees must be trained on the safety of machinery
(Section 26)
Part 3: Persons-in-charge and Certificates of
Competency

Key points:
 Machinery operators must be adequately trained
or under the supervision of a trained person
(Section 26);
 Young persons (< 16 years) must not operate
machinery (Section 28)
Part 4: Notification of Accidents, Dangerous Occurrence and
Dangerous Diseases
 The occupier must notify the nearest inspector of accidents
and diseases. Accidents include:




Loss of life;
Injury to a person who loses more than 4 days work (loss time
injury –LTI);
Serious damage to machinery or other property (Section 31).
Inspectors may investigate accidents and dangerous
occurrence and hold enquiries into more serious cases
(Section 33)
Part 5: Notice of Occupation of Factory and Registration and Use of
Machinery
 NotifyDepartment of Occupational Safety ad Health (DOSH) within
3 months of the intended start date (Section 34)
 Building operations must be notified if last more than 6
weeks(Section 35)
 Changes to the use of factory or machinery must be notified to
DOSH
 Fills a standard form together with (a) layout plan of the factory; (b)
list of products to be manufactured; (c) list of machines to be used;
(d) list of chemicals, toxic or flammable substances to be used, and
(e) detail flow chart of the processes.
Part 6: General

General penalty RM2,000.00

Certain sections is RM5,000.00 (Section 51)


Or imprisonment not exceeding 2 years
Or both

Schedules
 Schedule
1 Defines dangerous occurrencesto machinery
that need to be notified
 Schedule
2 Describes the types of injury that may be
classified as “serious bodily injury”
 Schedule
3 Lists notifiable industrial diseases
Regulations under the Act




Factories and Machinery (Certificates of Competency –Examinations)
Regulations, 1970
Factories and Machinery (Electric Passenger and Goods Lift) Regulations,
1970
Factories and Machinery (Fencing of Machinery and Safety) Regulations,
1970
Factories and Machinery (Notification of Fitness and Inspections)
Regulations, 1970

Factories and Machinery (Person-In-Charge) Regulations, 1970

Factories and Machinery (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations, 1970

Factories and Machinery (Steam Boiler and Unfired Pressure Vessel)
Regulations, 1970








Factories and Machinery (Administration) Regulations, 1970
Factories and Machinery (Compounding of Offences) Rules,
1978
Factories and Machinery (Compounding of Offences)
Regulations, 1978
Factories and Machineries (Lead) Regulations, 1984
Factories and Machineries (Asbestos Process) Regulations,
1986
Factories and Machinery (Building Operations and Works of
Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations, 1986
Factories and Machinery (Noise Exposure) Regulations,1989
Factories and Machinery (Mineral Dust) Regulations, 1989