Executive Director

                          
Our nation's commitment to occupational safety and health at the workplace is reflected
through the enactment of the  Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA), the setting up
of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), and the establishment of the
National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

Industrial accidents at the workplace continue to be a grave concern to all of us. As we strive
towards Vision 2020, it is inevitable that industrial and economic activities will increase.
Activities in the manufacturing sectors, agricultural and service sectors will also be on the rise.
There has always been a positive correlation between industrial activities and industrial
accidents. We should not allow this trend to continue.

Diverse hazards are faced daily by millions of workers all over the country. It is these workers
whom we wish to protect. We wish to protect their right to a healthy work environment so that
they will not be exposed to the hazards of mishandling chemicals, faulty equipment, prolonged
hazard exposure and the such. Our aim is to protect their right to a safe environment, with safe
and well-maintained equipment and machinery and with safe operating procedures. Ultimately,
we wish to protect their right to life.

For workers in Malaysia, I would say that we are fortunate to have a strong legislative
framework for occupational safety and health. However, enforcement by the Government
alone is insufficient to ensure workplace safety and health. There has to be cooperations and
efforts by the industries to initiate procedures and implement systems towards OSHA
compliance.

NIOSH is in the position to assist industries in achieving this aim. We complement the
Government's efforts by providing training, consultations, and information dissemination
services to industries. We also undertake research and development activities that will assist in
the development of OSH in the country. Our mission is to become the partner of industries
towards full OSH compliance.

NIOSH assists industries towards compliance in terms of providing services such as chemical
health risk assessments (CHRA) as well as chemical, medical and health monitoring. We also
provide consultancy services, advice and recommendations to the industries on a safe and
healthy system of work. We are constantly developing our manpower and expertise on the new
and current hazards and issues on OSH such as stress at the workplace, problems related to
manual handling, backaches and the detection, monitoring and control of chemical exposure
resulting in work related accidents and diseases.
On the administrative and management side, NIOSH also offers training services on
understanding the legislative requirements of OSHA and the Factories and Machinery Act, the
training of competent persons for certain job tasks as required under the Act, training of
trainers for specific courses etc. We also offer consultation services on Safety and Health
Management Systems, developing Procedures and Manuals, Safety Audits, Hazard
Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control, Emergency or Crisis Management and the like.

Although various efforts have been introduced and offered by both DOSH and NIOSH in
ensuring continuous compliance to the Regulations, companies must not depend solely on
DOSH to enforce the law and NIOSH to provide training, consultation and information services.
Our efforts must be supported by individual company commitment with the overall aim
towards full implementation of an OSH management system.

Our hope is that you will explore our website on the various services offered by NIOSH to
industries, and consult with our personnel, so we can assist your company to further enhance
the safety, health and welfare of your staff, workers and overall workplace environment. One
thing that we at NIOSH know for sure is that making the workplace safer and healthier for the
employees will result in increased productivity for the company and ultimately help reducing
the number of industrial accidents and diseases in Malaysia.