Malaysia legislation
Section 16
Section 16
The principal Act is amended by inserting after section 18
the following sections:
“Duties of principal 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.
Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment)
(2)
The duty imposed on the principal in subsection (1)
shall only apply where the contractor, subcontractor or employee referred to in that subsection is working under the direction of the principal as to the manner in which the work is carried out.
(3)
For the purposes of subsection (1), the measures necessary to ensure the safety and health of the persons at work include—
(a)
the provision and maintenance of plant and systems of work that are, so far as is practicable, safe and without risk to health;
(b)
the making of arrangements including the allocation of sufficient time, budget and other resources for ensuring, so far as is practicable, safety and absence of risks to health in connection with construction work activities, use or operation, handling, storage or transport of plant and substances;
(c)
the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is practicable, the safety and health of the persons at work;
(d)
so far as is practicable, as regards to any place of work under the control of the principal, the maintenance of the place of work in a condition that is safe and without risks to health and the provision and maintenance of the means of access to and egress from it that are safe and without such risks;
(e)
the provision and maintenance of a working environment for the persons at work that is, so far as is practicable, safe and without risks to health;
and
(f)
the development and implementation of procedures for dealing with emergencies that may arise while the persons are at work.
(4)
It shall be the duty of every principal to take, so far as is practicable, necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of persons, other than a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) working under the principal’s direction, who may be affected by any undertaking carried on by him at the place of work.
(5)
It shall be the duty of every principal, in the prescribed circumstances and in the prescribed manner, to give to persons, other than a person referred to in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) working under the principal’s direction, the prescribed information on such aspects of the manner in which he conducts his undertaking as might affect their safety or health.
(6)
For the purposes of this section, “subcontractor” means any person who contracts with a contractor for the execution by or under the subcontractor of the whole or any part of any work undertaken by the contractor for his principal, and includes any person who contracts with a subcontractor to carry out the whole or any part of any work undertaken by the subcontractor for a contractor.
Duty to conduct and implement risk assessment 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, self-employed 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.”.
Amendment of section 19