Lord Robben's Report

Lord Roben’s Report
Introduction
The Roben’s report on "Safety and Health at Work" was published in June 1972 after 2 years of studies and forms the basis of much of the modern Health and Safety Legislation. Roben’s Report 1972 led to the controversially constitute the idea of self-regulation by employers.
The Report itself led to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and basis of the Health and Safety Commission and the Health and Safety Executive. Malaysia’s OSH 1994 use Roben’s Report as guidelines for the Occupational Safety and Health Management.

Lord Roben’s Report 1972
This report stated that: 1. The main reason why accident happen is because of apathy; 2. There were too many laws on OSH; 3. These law were difficult to understand and intrinsically unsatisfactorily; 4. Safety and health at work were primarily a matter of detailed regulation by external agencies and workers responded to regulation per se; 5. OSH was about inspectors enforcing regulations; 6. Legislation only covered some industries, workers and hazards (selective); 7. Existing law did not stress on attitude, ability, and performance of individual and the efficiency of system they worked in.

Results and conclusions of the report
This is the result and conclusion made by Lord Roben and his committee:
1. There was too much law.
2. Law should be simplified.
3. The balance between "prescriptive" and "goal setting" legislation needed to shift towards the latter.
4. Framework law should be supported by specific Regulations, Codes of Practice and Guidance where necessary and appropriate. Voluntary Standards would form the next tier in this scheme.
5. The Inspectorate should be reformed.

The find in the report concluded that Safety and Health legislation the UK needed a radical overhaul and improvement. This is led to the formation of a new legislation and guideline that are more self-regulation and can be understood by all employer and employee at that time.

Lord Roben’s committee recommended 1. There should be more self-regulation by employer and employee; 2. There should be a single, comprehensive act dealing with occupational safety and health which should contain a clear statement of the basic principle s of responsibility of employers, employees and manufacturer, based on common law.

Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (Act 514)
OSHA 1994 put into force on 24 February 1994. This Act provide a legislative framework to stimulate and encourage high standards of safety and health at work.
It also promote safety and health awareness and establish effective safety organization through self-regulation. Consists of 15 parts. This enable to measure superimposed over existing safety and health regulations. OSHA provisions prevail in the event of any conflict.
This act defines general duties of employers, manufactures, employees, the self-employed, designers, importers and suppliers.
Covers all sectors except the armed forces and work on board ships which is: a. Merchant shipping ordinance 1952 b. Merchant shipping ordinance 1960
This legislation was made considering the fact that the Factory and Machinery Act 1967 only covers occupational safety and health in the manufacturing, mining, quarrying and construction industries, whereas the other industries are not covered. The purpose of Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is to promote and encourage occupational safety and health awareness among workers and to create organization along with effective safety and health measures.

Objective of OSH Act 1994 1. To ensure the safety, health and welfare of persons against risks from work activity 2. To protect persons other than persons at work 3. To promote and environment which is adapted to physiological and psychological needs 4. To provide the means to progressively replaced legislation by a system of regulation and approved industry

Lord Roben’s Report vs. Act 514
As result of human failure to comply with regulations, and the regulation that is not suitable in the working environment, causing difficulties in implementing the enforcement of a rule in practicing safety and health practice at workplace.
Therefore very appropriate recommendations had been made to the Act 514 as per suggestion from Lord Roben and his committee to enforce the effective way in practicing Occupational Health and Safety Act at workplace.

Adaptation Lord Roben’s Report in OSH Act 1994

A. Duty of Care
Duty of care describe as people to ensure their own safety at work and that of others who are at the workplace or who might be injured by the work. These duties are intended to preventing anyone being injured or contracting an illness because of work or activities at a workplace, including using plant or equipment.
Employer must, as far as practicable (ALARP), provide and maintain a working environment where employees are not exposed to hazards. This includes, but is not limited to, requirements to: 1. Provide and maintain workplaces, plant and systems of work that do not expose employees to hazards; 2. Provide information, instruction, training and supervision so employees can perform their work safely; 3. Consult and cooperate with safety and health representatives, if any, and other employees, regarding occupational safety and health at the workplace; 4. Provide adequate protective clothing and equipment, where it is not practicable to avoid the presence of hazards at the workplace; and 5. Ensure safe use, cleaning, maintenance, transportation and disposal of substances or chemical used in the workplace.
With the proper and clear instruction and guidelines that are provided in Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 will safeguard the path of the improvement in obtaining minimum injuries or contracting an illness because of work in Malaysia’s workplace generally.

B. As Long As Reasonable Practicable (ALARP)
One of the key factor in creating and enforce the in Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 is a guidelines to the “as long as reasonable practicable” practice. This is a set or goals that are needed to be understood by the employer in maintaining safety and health at workplace. With the introduction to the hierarchy of hazard in OSH Act 1994, it is a guideline to employer to eliminate and minimize hazards at workplace.
B.1. Hierarchy of Hazard Controls
One of the sections in OSH Act 1994 already states the guideline to as long as practicable practice by using the hierarchy of hazard control. This is a system used in industry to minimize or eliminate exposure to hazards. It is a widely accepted system promoted by numerous safety organizations. This concept is taught to managers in industry, to be promoted as standard practice in the workplace. Various illustrations are used to describe this system, most commonly a triangle.
The hierarchy of hazard controls are, in order of effectiveness, elimination, substitution, engineering, administration, and personal protective equipment.

Hierarchy of Hazard Controls

All the above method can be carried out by the employer by take into account several factor:

B.1.1 Cost
Cost is major hindrance in maintaining safety and health at workplace. Most of the organisation has a limited budget in maintaining safety and health to numerous employees at the workplace. If the cost in implementing safety and health is exceeding the budgets that are provided, the company tends to look away the maximum conducts in implementing safety and health at workplace.

Employer can practice the cheaper method in practicing safety and health at workplace. This is better than allowing any near miss to happen repeatedly that can cause an accident happen at workplace that can cause injury to employee at workplace.

B.1.2 Technology
Using new discovered technology in preventing injuries and illness at workplace is encouraged by the government. Employer can do a research for new technique and method or developed a new helping tools or equipment in order to carry out work at the workplace as safe as possible.
If the new discoveries can help other work environment in all sector, it is encourage to that employer to share the finding in making working environment in Malaysia become more safer by time to time.
The technology might be a new way in preventing injuries from fall from height or may be a new type of paint that has a characteristic of anti-slip or for factories.
At the end the technology will improve the quality of life of employee and this will raise the production at factories, plant, and any workplace. B.1.3 Information and knowledge
Information and information is needed in practicing a excellent safety and health practice at workplace. Employer must well know all the information and guidelines that been provided by government in OSH Act 1994 and Factory and Machinery Act.
By understanding the information, employer can explain and planning a good safety policy and working guideline to be use by employee in ensure safety and health at workplace.
Training have an important roles in maintain a good safety and health practice at workplace. Employer has a duty to send the person in charge of safety (Safety Manager or Safety and Health Officer) to a training regarding safety and health practice. This is to ensure the person in charge have a good skills and understanding in order for them to carry out their duty as per describe by OSH Act 1994. As the result, they can convey their knowledge to the other employee and this can increase the awareness among the employee and increase the production at workplace.

B.1.4 Expertise
Hire an expert who have a wide knowledge in safety and health practice at workplace is a huge stepping stone in practicing as per describe in Act itself. The candidate must meet all the requirement and criteria and has a competency as describe by OSH Act 1994.
The competent person can explain to the employer in better understand the Act and all other related regulation and guideline. Such else helping in creating safety policy, arranging safety meeting, creating safety committee, establish HIRAC and Hazard Management and other duty as per describe in the Act itself.
With the proper and clear instruction and guidelines that are provided in Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and in all related regulation and guideline will give an option to the employer in practicing an excellent and proper method that are in range of bearable cost and permissible method in obtaining minimum injuries or contracting an illness because of work in Malaysia’s workplace generally.

C. Self-regulation
With the recommendation of Roben’s Report which is a need of an act that can self-regulation, Malaysia government introduce Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 / Act 514 in regulating and enforced a standard understanding and guidelines to all employer in various sector in preventing employees being injured or contracting an illness because of work or activities at a workplace, including using plant or equipment.

To handle issues relating to occupational safety and health, employers must develop a good and orderly management system. Starting with formation of a safety and health policy and consequently employers have to make the proper arrangements to be carried out.

C.1 Consultation- tri partite
Where employers, employees and the government must working together to cater issues and problems relating to occupational safety and health at the workplace.

C.2 Co-operation
Where employers and employees must co-operate to take care, nurture and to increase the quality of occupational safety and health at the workplace. Without co-operation between employers and employees, none of the occupational safety and health programs carried out would succeed.

With the nature of this act as a self-regulated, which gives power to this act to stand tall as a regulating law that are above any other writing law which formed by government . This is important where a law should not have any flaw, conflict or inconsistency which may interrupt the enforcement of law in implementing safety and health at workplace. Others writing law, order, or ordinance can be used as a guideline for the employer in exercising this law in order to minimum hazard at workplace.

D. Employees Welfare
In section 15 of OSH Act 1994 describe the general duties of employers and self-employed persons to their employees: It shall be the duty of every employer and self-employed person to ensure, as far as is practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of all his employees. Without prejudice to the generality of subsection.

This is simplified as employee welfare has the following:

D.1 Objectives 1. To provide better life and health to the workers 2. To make the workers happy and satisfied 3. To relieve workers from industrial fatigue and to improve intellectual, cultural and material conditions of living of the workers.
D.2 Features
The basic features of employee welfare measures are as follows: 1. Employee welfare includes various facilities, services and amenities provided to workers for improving their health, efficiency, economic betterment and social status. 2. Welfare measures are in addition to regular wages and other economic benefits available to workers due to legal provisions and collective bargaining 3. Employee welfare schemes are flexible and ever-changing. New welfare measures are added to the existing ones from time to time. 4. Welfare measures may be introduced by the employers, government, employees or by any social or charitable agency. 5. The purpose of employee welfare is to bring about the development of the whole personality of the workers to make a better workforce.

Vision OSH MP-15 (Management Planning – 2015)
This is an aim to increase the awareness among the employee, employer and all level of staff in safety and health practice at workplace. And thus increasing productivity of work quality and cultivating and sustaining a safe and healthy work culture in all organisations throughout Malaysia.

Objective
The specific objectives are: 1. To increase awareness and knowledge in OSH and commitment to OSH in all undertakings both big and small business; 2. To reduce the rates of workplace injuries and associated fatalities; 3. To reduce the number of occupational lung diseases, occupational noise induced hearing loss and occupational skin diseases; and 4. To minimise their adverse impacts on efficiency, productivity and business performance.

Strategy to achieve OSH MP-15

1. Industry leadership and involvement of business community 1.1 OSH management capabilities need to be built and honed. 1.2 Implementation good practitioner level in OSH at workplace. 1.3 Develop improvement of a industry leader program such as NIOSH, FFM, SMIDEC and others. 1.4 Publish and distribute information to all industries and business.

1. Strong partnership locally and internationally 3.1 Enhancing the capabilities of NCOSH. 3.2 Enhancing international collaboration OSHNET. 3.3 Develop local OSH experts. Sit in International OSH board and committee..

3. Government leadership and practice 4.4 Enhance legal policy framework for OSH. 4.5 Provide compliance support to OSH legislation. 4.6 Launch special program and approach to improve OSH. 4.7 Provide training and services related to OSH. 4.8 Provide more Self-Awareness Seminar.

4. Preventive workplace culture 5.9 Promote safe working environment program. 5.10 Eliminate hazard at design stage. 5.11 Prevent occupational disease more effectively. 5.12 Design and develop safe environment for work. 5.13 Increase quality and quantity of OSH practitioner.

Conclusion
Base on the current situation and future plan in OSH MP-15, it is relevant to use Lord Roben’s report as base of regulating and improvement of OSH practice in Malaysia.
The goal in both OSH and Lord Roben’s report is to have safe working environment where employer can prevent hazard in workplace.
Without injuries and illness employee can work in peaceful mind and this will be key factor in improving productivity at workplace
Improvement must be made time to time by the government by revising the act and its support legislation. Employer must provide all information and training to all employee in order to increase the awareness in understanding the important of safe workplace environment to avoid injuries and occupational diseases.