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WHAT ARE MY DUTIES AS AN EMPLOYER ?

As an employer, you have duties to your employees and to persons other than your employees.

The general duties of employers and self-employed persons are stated in Part IV of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

If you contravene this provision of the Act, you will be liable to a fine not exceeding RM50,000 or 2 years imprisonment or to both.

Among others, you have a duty to ensure, so far as is practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work for all your employees.

You have the obligation to ensure that existing plant is up to the necessary standards with respect to safety and risk to health and that, when new plant is installed, latest practice in safety and health are taken into account.

You must ensure a safe system at the workplace and minimize operations that present danger of injury or health impairment. This may require special systems of work, such as the "permit to work" system.

You should regularly monitor the work environment to ensure that, where known health hazards are present, protection conforms to current health standards, including medical surveillance of workers.

You should make arrangement for ensuring safety and health in connection with the use or operation, handling, storage and transportation of plants and substances.

You should ensure that no charge is levied on any employee for anything done or provided to meet any specific requirement for safety and health at work.

You should prepare a written statement of general policy, organization and arrangements for safety and health at work, keep it up-to-date by revision and inform all employees of the notice and revision to the policy where applicable. This policy must be implemented at workplace.

You need to provide information, instruction, training and supervision in safe work practices and consider specific training needs of your organization with particular reference to processes with special hazards.

Additionally, you must conduct your activities, so as to ensure that people other than your employees are not exposed to risks to safety and health.

You shall notify the nearest Department of Occupational Safety and Health office of any accident, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning or occupational disease which has occurred or is likely to occur at the place of work.

You shall provide the Safety an Health Officer adequate facilities including appropriate information and training equipment to enable Safety and Health Officer to conduct his duties.

In any investigation conducted by the Safety and Health Officer, you shall direct one ore more supervisor to assist.

You cannot discriminate against your employee or dismiss an employee, injure him in his employment or alter his position to his detriment by reason only that the employee makes a complaint about a matter which he considers is not safe or is a risk to health.

If you contravenes the above provisions of the Act, you shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM10,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 1 year or to both.

WHAT ARE MY DUTIES AS AN EMPLOYEE ?

It shall be your duty as an employee while at work :

• to take reasonable care at work for the safety of yourself and other persons
• to cooperate with your employer or any other person in the discharge of any duty, under the Act or Regulations
• to wear or use at all times any protective equipment and clothing provided by your employer for the purpose of preventing risks to your safety and health
• to comply with any instruction or measure on occupational safety and health as required under the Act or Regulations

If you contravene this provision of the Act, you shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both.

If you intentionally, recklessly or negligently interferes with or misuses anything provided or done in the interests of safety, health and welfare in pursuance of the Act, you shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding RM20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.