Improving design for occupational safety and health in Malaysia

Project details

Full project title: Improving design for occupational safety and health in Malaysia via tripartite academic-industry-government engagement, capacity strengthening and knowledge exchange

Duration: 1 March 2025-31 August 2026

Funded by: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Project team: 

• Professor Patrick Manu (Principal Investigator), UWE Bristol
• Dr Abhinesh Prabhakaran (Co-Investigator), UWE Bristol
• Dr Pablo Perez (Co-Investigator), UWE Bristol
• Universiti Teknologi MARA
• University of Manchester
• UCL

Partners:

• Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia
• Health and Safety Executive
• Lendlease Development Malaysia Sdn Bhd
• Consolidated Legend (M) Sdn Bhd
• Black Dot Management Sdn Bhd
• Construction Research Institute of Malaysia

Project summary

In Malaysia, the construction sector accounts for about 30% of worker deaths. Design for occupational safety and health (DfOSH), is one of the prominent mechanisms for preventing or reducing risk of occupational accidents, injuries and illnesses in construction. DfOSH entails ‘designing out’ occupational safety and health (OSH) risks at the early design stages of construction projects to protect workers. In the UK, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (CDM) have been introduced since 1995 to mandate DfOSH implementation. In Malaysia, the Occupational Safety and Health (Construction Work) (Design and Management) (CWDM) Regulations 2024, which have been adapted from the UK CDM, have just recently been passed, as a measure to improve OSH performance of the construction sector.

Currently, Malaysia is still at the initial stage of implementing DfOSH, while the UK has garnered many years of experience in DfOSH. The experience and lessons learnt from the UK with regards to challenges in DfOSH implementation and their solutions would serve as a useful resource for construction stakeholders (academia, industry, and government) in Malaysia in building strong DfOSH implementation capacity.

This project thus initiates a tripartite engagement of Academia-Industry-Government stakeholders in Malaysia with input from the UK to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders for the effective implementation of DfOSH in Malaysia. The impact of this project on the welfare of Malaysia is twofold:

1. the immediate gain will be capacity strengthening, and co-creation of solutions to address teething challenges to DfOSH implementation
2. long-term impact will be nation-wide socio-economic gains arising from reduction in accidents, injuries and illnesses.