Lawyerment - Case and Codes - Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994

A person who by any act or omission contravenes any provision of this Act or any regulation made thereunder shall be guilty of an offence, and if no penalty is expressly provided shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and, in the case of a continuing offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand ringgit for every day or part of a day during which the offence continues after conviction.

52. Offenses committed by body corporate.

(1) Where a body corporate contravenes any provision of this Act or any regulation made thereunder, every person who at the time of the commission of the offence is a director, manager, secretary or other like officer of the body corporate shall be deemed to have contravened the provision and may be charged jointly in the same proceedings with the body corporate or severally, and every such director, manager, secretary or other like officer of the body corporate shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence.

(2) A person may be proceeded against and convicted under the provision of subsection (1) whether or not the corporation has been proceeded against or has been convicted under that provision.

53. Offenses committed by trade union.

(1) Where a trade union by any act or omission contravenes any provision of this Act or any regulation made thereunder, every officer, employee and person purporting to act on the instruction of any officer of the trade union shall be deemed to have contravened the provision and may be charged jointly in the same proceedings with the trade union or severally, and every such officer, employee or person shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence.

(2) A person may be proceeded against and convicted under the provision of subsection (1) whether or not the trade union has been proceeded against or has been convicted under that provision.

54. Offenses committed by agent.

A person who would be liable under this Act or any regulation made thereunder to any penalty for anything done or omitted if the thing had been done or omitted by him personally shall be liable to the same penalty if the thing had been done or omitted by his agent.

55. Defence.

It shall be a defence if any proceedings against a person for an offence under this Act or any regulation made thereunder to satisfy the court that the offence was committed without his consent or connivance and that he exercised all such due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence as he ought to have exercised having regard to the nature of his functions in that capacity and to all the circumstances.

56. Body corporate or trade union liable to fine.

Where a person convicted in respect of an offence under this Act or any regulation made thereunder is a body corporate or a trade union, it shall only be liable to the imposition of a fine provided therefor.

57. Aiding and abetting.

A person who aids or abets the commission of an offence under this Act shall be punished with the punishment provided for the offence.

58. Safeguards against further personal liability.

Subject to the provisions of this Act and any regulation made thereunder, no person shall incur any personal liability for any loss or damage caused by any act or omission by him in carrying out the duties under this Act or any regulation made thereunder, unless the loss or damage was occasioned intentionally or through recklessness or gross negligence.

59. Civil liability not affected by Parts IV, V and VI.

Nothing in Parts IV, V and VI and the relevant industry code of practice shall be construed as

(a) conferring a right of action in an civil proceeding in respect of any contravention, whether by act or omission, of any provision of those Parts;

(b) conferring a defence to an action in any civil proceedings or as otherwise affecting a right of action in any civil proceedings; or

(c) affecting the extent, if any, to which a right of action arises or civil proceedings may be taken with respect to breaches of duties imposed by other legislation in regard to safety and health.

60. Onus of proving limits of what is practicable.

In any proceedings for an offence under this Act or any regulation made thereunder consisting of a failure to comply with a duty or requirement to do something so far as is practicable, or to use the best practicable means to do something, it shall be for the accused to prove that it was not practicable to do more than was in fact done to satisfy the duty or requirement, or that there was no better practicable means than was in fact used to satisfy the duty or requirement.

61. Prosecutions.

Prosecutions in respect of offenses committed under this Act or any regulation made thereunder may, with the prior written consent of the Public Prosecutor, be instituted and conducted by an occupational safety and health officer or by an officer specially authorized in writing by the Director General subject to the provision of the Criminal Procedure Code.

62. Compounding of offenses.

(1) The Minister may, be order in the Gazette, prescribe any offence under this Act or any regulation made thereunder as an offence which may be compounded.

(2) The Director General may at any time before conviction compound any of the offenses prescribed under subsection (1) as an offence which may be compounded by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding the amount of the maximum fine to which the person would have been liable to if he had been convicted of the offence:

Provided that the Director General shall not exercise his powers under this section unless the person in writing admits that he has committed the offence and requests the Director General to deal with the offence under this section.