1.3 Regulations Under OSHA 1994 That a Site Safety Supervisor Applies

Why the regulations matter

NIOSH Part 2(C), Regulations under OSHA, is one of the four legislation topics in the SSS course, with about three hours of teaching. In the exam, structured questions often give a site situation and ask which regulation applies and what it requires. A DOSH officer will also judge a site against these regulations, not against general good intentions.

OSHA 1994 contains the duties. Section 66 lets the Minister make regulations, section 37 lets the Minister approve industry codes of practice (ICOPs), and section 38 allows ICOPs to be used in proceedings: a failure to follow a relevant code can be used as evidence of a breach. DOSH guidelines have no legal force of their own, but they show what DOSH considers practicable.

The current regulations under OSHA 1994

DOSH's list of regulations under Act 514, checked in October 2026:

DOSH also lists orders under OSHA, including the Licensed Persons Order 2024 (P.U.(A) 100/2024), which licenses third parties to inspect certified plant, and the Prohibition of Use of Substance Order 1999. The Safety and Health Officer Order 1997 (made under section 29(1)) is the order that lists which industries must employ an SHO.

Repealed on 1 June 2024

DOSH's page of repealed regulations includes the FM (Building Operations and Works of Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations 1986 (BOWEC), FM (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations 1970, FM (Guarding of Machinery and Safety) Regulations 1970, FM (Electric Lifts for Passengers and Goods) Regulations 1970, FM (Notification, Certificate of Fitness and Inspection) Regulations 1970, FM (Asbestos Process) Regulations 1986, FM (Mineral Dust) Regulations 1989 and FM (Noise Exposure) Regulations 1989. The Chief Inspector's Special Orders on tower cranes (2017), temporary structures (No. 1 of 2020) and mobile cranes (No. 2 of 2020) were also revoked with the FMA.

The regulations an SSS uses every week

NADOPOD 2004: reporting accidents and dangerous occurrences

• Death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence: the employer must notify the nearest DOSH office immediately by the quickest means available, then send a report in the approved form within 7 days (regulation 5(1)).
• Lost-time injury: any accident that keeps a person from normal work for more than four calendar days must be reported within 7 days (regulation 5(2)).
• Death within one year of a reportable accident: notify the Director General in writing (regulation 5(3)).
• Occupational poisoning or disease in the Third Schedule: the employer reports within 7 days, and so does the doctor (regulation 7).
• The scene must not be disturbed after a fatal or serious incident except to save life or relieve suffering, maintain public access to an essential service, or prevent further serious damage (regulation 9).
• Register: keep it for at least 5 years and send DOSH an annual extract before 31 January (regulation 10).
• Penalty: up to RM10,000 or one year or both (regulation 13).

Construction-relevant dangerous occurrences in Part I of the Second Schedule include:

• the collapse of a scaffold more than 5 metres high
• the collapse of any part of a building or structure under construction or demolition, or of any temporary support
• the collapse, overturning or failure of a load-bearing part of a crane, hoist, piling frame, excavator or lift

USECHH 2000: chemicals hazardous to health

• Keep a register of chemicals hazardous to health (regulation 5).
• Have a chemical health risk assessment carried out by a registered assessor (regulations 9 and 11). Review it after a significant change, after five years, or when DOSH directs (regulation 10).
• Act on the assessment report within one month (regulation 14).
• Apply controls in this order (regulation 15): elimination, substitution, total enclosure, isolation, process modification, engineering control equipment, safe work systems, and approved PPE last.
• Inspect engineering control equipment such as local exhaust ventilation at least monthly, and have a hygiene technician examine and test it at least every 12 months (regulation 17).
• Keep personal exposure monitoring records 30 years and health surveillance records 30 years (regulations 26 and 27).
• Post warning signs in Bahasa Malaysia and English, dark red on white (regulation 29).

CLASS 2013: labels and safety data sheets

Suppliers must label hazardous chemicals with the product identifier, supplier identification, signal word, hazard statement, pictogram and precautionary statement. Labels must be in the national language and English (regulation 8). Suppliers must also provide a 16-heading safety data sheet, revised at least every five years (regulation 13). On site, the SSS checks that every container in use has a label and that the safety data sheet is available where the chemical is used.

Noise Exposure Regulations 2019

• Excessive noise means a daily exposure above 82 dB(A), a maximum level above 115 dB(A) or a peak above 140 dB(C). It triggers a noise risk assessment by a DOSH-registered assessor.
• Exposure limit: 85 dB(A) daily (or a 100% dose), 115 dB(A) maximum and 140 dB(C) peak.
• Controls: engineering first, then engineering plus administrative, then administrative alone, then other measures including approved hearing protectors.
• Hearing protection zones must be marked, and exposed workers need annual audiometric testing.

Chapter 10 applies this to piling, breaking and cutting.

Plant Requiring Certificate of Fitness Regulations 2024

• The regulations cover steam boilers, pressure vessels and lifting machinery, including tower cranes, mobile cranes, passenger and material hoists, and suspended access equipment (gondolas).
• A certificate of fitness issued after inspection by a DOSH officer or licensed person is valid for 15 months.
• Tower cranes, passenger hoists and suspended access equipment need a comprehensive examination at least every three months by a competent person, or more often if the manufacturer requires.
• Tower cranes and mobile cranes may be operated only by a competent crane operator working to a lifting plan based on a risk assessment (regulation 15). Chapter 8 covers this.

Industry codes of practice and guidelines you will meet

Scenario: choosing the right regulation

A crawler crane's boom collapses onto an empty laydown area on Sunday. Nobody is hurt.

1. Under NADOPOD Second Schedule Part I item 11, the failure of a load-bearing part of a crane is a dangerous occurrence.
2. The employer must notify DOSH immediately and submit the written report within 7 days.
3. The scene stays undisturbed under regulation 9 unless one of its exceptions applies.
4. The crane cannot be used again until its condition and its certificate of fitness status under the Plant Requiring Certificate of Fitness Regulations 2024 have been dealt with.