Wong Soo Kan said this could form part of the Occupational Safety and Health Master Plan 2021-2025 (OSHMP25).

Announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob this month, the five-year plan aims to boost the level of safety and health at the workplace by reducing the rate of accidents, deaths and infection from disease.

Strengthening self-regulation practice at the workplace is one of the plan’s seven key strategies.

Wong, who has been involved in the occupational safety and health industry since the 1980s, said Malaysia should take a leaf out of England’s book.

“The authorities and industries in England have come up with a list of best practices which they have put up in websites which others can implement in their own workplaces. Just copy and paste,” he told FMT.

“In Malaysia, a lot of companies have their best practices but they are kept close to their chest and not publicised.

“Right now, industries only depend on DOSH (the department of occupational safety and health) to come up with guidelines and codes of practices, which is not sufficient.”

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, every employer shall establish a health and safety committee at the workplace if there are 40 or more persons employed or upon an order by the DOSH director-general.

The act says that every employer shall consult the committee to create and maintain arrangements which will enable both the employer and employees to cooperate effectively in promoting, developing and checking occupational safety and health measures.

However, Wong said such committees are not the norm as most businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), lack knowledge about occupational safety and health best practices and have limited ability to implement self-regulation.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) council member A Sivanathan said companies seldom self-regulate themselves and warned that employers cannot be expected to comply with the rules on their own.

While companies’ occupational safety and health committees play an important role in identifying risks and how to overcome them, Sivanathan said DOSH’s enforcement officers have an equally crucial part to play.

“DOSH cannot just leave this to the employers. They have to visit factories, meet workers and find out the issues they face. But how often do they go out and check?” he asked.

“Who creates risks in the workplace? The employer. Because of this, it is ultimately the employers’ responsibility to make workplaces safer, and the workers’ responsibility to make sure they comply (with the rules).”