HR Minister: DOSH Does Not Provide Training

Providing training has never been a responsibility of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). As a result, the Occupational Safety and Health Amendment (Amendment) Bill 2020 will not transform the department into a training provider.

DOSH only regulates training 

Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, Minister of Human Resources, stated that DOSH, the law enforcement agency in charge of occupational safety and health, only offered talks as an advisory and promotional effort.

Additionally, to ensure that workers received the training required by Clause 31 of the Bill, he stated that DOSH would regulate training provided that was registered with the department's director-general.

"This is critical to ensuring that the quality of training and the services provided by training providers meet a specified standard in terms of module, teaching staff, and facility."

Clause 31 of the Bill seeks to include a new section, 31A, on the minister's authority to carry out an order published in the gazette requiring any class or description of persons to attend occupational safety and health courses with a certified training provider under the act.

Meanwhile, Saravanan stated that the DOSH conducted 180,000 enforcement efforts countrywide from January to August this year, with 138 prosecution cases totalling RM1.56 million in penalties.

Improving OSH Act

The Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Bill 2020 will improve worker safety, health, and welfare and safeguard persons from the hazards of work-related activities.

The Bill was intended to reform the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1994 (Act 514). It contained 55 clauses that included 27 new sections, the deletion of two sections, and changes to 35 existing sections.

The latest amendments to the OSH Act will improve workplace safety, among others.

After 14 Members of Parliament took part in the debate, it was then adopted by a majority vote. Wan Hassan Mohd Ramli proposed that the government recognise and reward employers who meet workplace safety and health standards by providing tax breaks or financial incentives.

"This action is to encourage them to comply with the provisions of the act and to demonstrate that the government is very serious about the topic, and errant employers will be penalised as specified in the Act," he said.

The Factories and Machinery (Repeal) Bill 2020, also introduced by Saravanan, was also approved by the Dewan Rakyat. It aims to repeal the Factories and Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139).

Source: Malay Mail

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