A Preliminary Study on Industrial Safety Management in Malaysia: The Viewpoints of Safety Experts and Practitioners

After independent in 1957, Malaysia economy has moved from \nagricultural based commodity to middle income economy. However, the economy \ndevelopment and industrialization sometimes predominates over workers and societal \nneeds for safer and healthier life. Due to the complexity of industrial process and use of \nhazardous chemicals, hazards to cause harms in future seem to be unpredictable and \nfrightening. Indeed, the implementation of an effective safety management is of \nparamount importance. Thus, this article discusses the result of an open-ended \ninterview with safety experts and practitioners on the current practice of safety \nmanagement in Malaysia. The interview was focused on four factors, namely, \norganization, institution, legislation, and technology. These factors are selected due to \nthe fact that they are closely relevant to the local condition and local instruments. The \ngroup of respondents in this study consists of respective personnel from various \norganizations such as industry, government agencies, academic institution, and nongovernmental \norganization (NGO’s). Objective: The purpose of this paper is to provide \nresearchers, government agencies and independent bodies an overview on industrial \nsafety management in Malaysia from the viewpoints of safety experts and practitioners. \nIn addition, this paper will also highlight the respondent’s initial opinions towards the \nestablishment of cooperative network for safety management in the context of \nMalaysia’s industrial estate. Results: From the overall interview’s result, the \nmanagement commitment and awareness, strengthening the legal mechanism and \ninstitutional structure, and encouraging the use and development of safety-embedded \ntechnology are among the concerns that need to be focused on. In addition to this, the \nfinancial support also plays a vital role in order to assist industry to further improve \ntheir safety management practice. Furthermore, the respondents have also responded to \nthe idea of establishing a cooperative relationship to further enhance the safety \nmanagement at the macro level of industrial estate instead of at the individual firm. \nMost of them basically agreed with the approach whereby it is an innovative step \ntowards betterment of safety management system. Conclusion: These findings are \nbased on experts and practitioner’s opinion and their personal’s point of views. \nTherefore, from this result, further exploration is unavoidable and in-depth study ought \nto be carried out in order to come out with a clearer picture. Besides, in relation to the \nestablishment of cooperative network for safety management, this approach is not \nstraightforward and we need to look at several issues and obstacles which may hinder \nthis movement. This is due to the fact that Malaysia has the uniqueness in term of its \nmulti-ethnic culture, political status quo, legislations, technological strength and \nreadiness of industry to partake in this initiative. Thus, more comprehensive and indepth \nstudy is needed in future to come.