Question

Please refer to the article titled as “Improving Occupational Safety and Health in Construction”, published in The Ingenieur, Vol. 69 January – March 2017 by the Board of Engineers Malaysia. Please refer to Attachment 1 on the article titled as “Improving Occupational Safety and Health in Construction”, published in The Ingenieur, Vol. 69 January – March 2017 by the Board of Engineers Malaysia. As an engineer, identify how would it be ethical to ensure that the OSHA 1994 can be enforced ensuring a safer working environment? (400words)

Answer 1

The principle of the Act is "To make further provision for securing that safety, health and welfare of persons at work, for protecting others against risks to safety or health in connection with the activities of persons at work, to establish the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health and for matters connected therewith."

The Act applies throughout Malaysia to the industries specified in the First Schedule.

OSHA is effective at ensuring safe and healthful working conditions for working men
and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education and
assistance.
OSHA enforces protective standards and it reaches out to employees and employers through consultation
programs and technical assistance.
It provides assistance to various employers in order to eliminate or reduce workplace hazards.
OSHA provides training materials and a large arrary of infrmation that focuses on health hazards and
numerous safety in the workplace.
OSHA establishes requirements for illness or injury recordkeeping by employees. It also establishes
requirement for employers to monitor certain occupational illness.

Safety and Ethics

Derived from the Greek work ethikos (“of or for morals”), ethics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of values or morality. The ancient philosophers who pioneered the study of ethics were largely concerned with the functioning of society as a whole and the individual’s role in it.

Today, ethics also relates to corporate social responsibility. What is it that we owe our employees, customers, shareholders and the community at large, and how does our fulfillment of these obligations ensure our long-term sustainability as a company?

Many leaders have come to see safety as the starting point for answering these questions. To them, providing a safe workplace lays the foundation for organizational excellence and integrity in strategic, financial and operational performance. These leaders are driven by a deep sense of commitment to ethical principles that include:

Value for human life – The belief that preservation and protection of human life supersedes other goods.

Integrity – That the commitment to telling the truth and keeping promises, plus applying the best of one’s abilities, promise worker loyalty and commitment.

Justice – That a strong sense of fair dealing with employees establishes trust between leaders and their reports.

The good of the many – That excellence stems from a concern for the achievement of the common good (as opposed to what is good just for the individual person or company).

Excellence – The belief that whatever degree of safety or integrity we have achieved, we always have the opportunity to improve.

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