Industrialisation and urban renewal has caused widespread problems relating to environments such as water, sanitation and health. At the same time exposure to indoor and outdoor environments has also given impact to the industrial safety monitoring and health whilst working. This is the scenario in the developed countries and the difficulty of how to implement a policy that will serve the whole spectrum. Firstly, what is the big concern about such issues, and the midst of so many other competing priorities, why should we bother to work on such issues? The WHO has estimated that 24% of global disease is caused by environmental exposures, with over 13million deaths annually due to environmental causes, nearly a third of deaths and disease in the least developed regions. So in this article, the Malaysian occupational safety and health scenario and related environmental aspect will be discussed.
Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is concerned with preserving and protecting human and facility resources in the workplace (Friend and Khon, 2007). OSH is also a field wherein professionals attempt to prevent catastrophic losses. Economically, morally, and legally, OSH has become an important issue. Companies are attempting to remain profitable in an ever competitive global economy. For companies, addressing safety, health and environmental programs, this may actually lean towards survival. In reality the amount of production required to cover costs associated with accidents in the workplace can be substantial and may far outweigh the expense of providing a safe and healthy working environment. The field of OSH has undergone significant change over the past two decades. Some of these reasons are: technological changes that have introduced new hazards in the workplace; proliferation of safety and health legislation and corresponding regulation; increased pressure from regulatory agencies; realisation by executives that workers in a safe and healthy workplace are typically more productive; increased pressure from environmental groups; corporate social responsibility and increased pressure from labour organisations and employees in general (Goetsch, 2010, Reese, 2009).
