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Speaking at ChemCon held in Philadelphia on March 5, 2020, Ms. Hanisah Ahmad from Malaysia's Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) introduced the current status of hazardous chemical legislations, challenges in chemical control, and future plans of Malaysia.
According to Ms. Hanisah's speech, Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) 1994, Classification, Labelling and Safety Data Sheet of Hazardous Chemicals (CLASS) Regulations 2013, Use and Standard of Exposure Chemical Hazardous to Health (USECHH) Regulations 2000 are all under the amendment, and the review of Industry Code of Practice on Chemicals Classification and Hazard Communication (ICOP CHC) 2014 and Prohibition of Use of Substances (Prohibition) Order 1999 have started. Here is a chronology of regulatory developments:
OSHA 1994 is amended to further streamline existing regulations according to current requirements, and the amended version is expected to be tabled in the Parliament by this year.
The amendment of the CLASS Regulations focuses on the review of the exemptions in the application and the requirements for the label. It is proposed that the label area shall be specified instead of the label dimension, and the pictogram size will be based on the specified label area. The amendment aims to allow only chemicals that comply with CLASS 2013 requirements to be imported into Malaysia, which means "No CLASS, No Entry." Particularly, the importation of chemicals for use at the workplace shall in the concern of Director General of DOSH, and the information for a certain type of chemicals shall be submitted to get approval for importation. The amendment of the CLASS Regulations is still at the initial stage of discussions and being assessed by feasibility study now.
The USECHH Regulations 2000 will include an exemption for dispensed medication, competent person, trained person and their duties, the methodology of chemical health risk assessment (CHRA), chemical exposure monitoring system, review on permissible exposure limit (PEL), and specific requirement of approval and notification for asbestos process and sandblasting. CHRA will include full assessment and simple assessment, the full assessment includes Site-Specific CHRA and Generic CHRA, and simple assessment refers to Simple Risk Assessment and Control for Chemicals (SiRAC). It's worth noting that, in accordance with current development, SiRAC shall not apply to the chemicals with hazard type Carcinogenicity (Cat. 1), Mutagenicity (Cat. 1 or 2) or Respiratory Sensitization (Cat.1), the chemicals that process generated dust and fumes, organic dust, and gases.
The review on ICOP CHC 2014 has already made substantial progress, namely the issuance of ICOP CHC 2019 Part 1 [1]. ICOP CHC consists of four parts, List of Classified Chemicals, Chemicals Classification, Hazard Communication: Labelling and Safety Data Sheet (SDS), and Confidential Business Information (CBI). Compared with the previous version, the new List provides minimum classification instead of mandatory classification, and the classification for certain acid and base is based on the concentration of the substance. "Part 2 and Part 3 are now under review to align with the amendment of CLASS Regulations and GHS 7th revision," Ms. Hanisah introduced.
The review on Prohibition Order 1999 is currently at the drafting stage. Prohibition Order 1999 lists four chemical substances and specifies the extent to which their use is prohibited. The proposed amendment includes additional provisions on approval from the Director-General of DOSH to prohibit carcinogenic substances, the provision for special handling methods and control measures, and more listed chemicals, CAS number, the extent to which use of the substances is prohibited and justification.
Besides the above regulations under development by DOSH, the revision of the Pesticides Act 1974 by Department of Agriculture, revision of the Poisons Act 1952 by the Ministry of Health, and the Fertilizer Act to be introduced by DOA are all ongoing.
In the speech, Ms. Hanisah introduced that more than 80% of the total workforce in Malaysia are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which poses great challenges for the government to manage workplace safety, due to lack of finances, knowledge, and skill as well as awareness in safety and health.
The Malaysian government is constantly taking measures to improve chemical control issues, particularly by straightening legal framework and enforcement activities. In addition, the following initiatives are proposed and promoted:
An online submission system called Chemical Information Management System (CIMS) has been developed to enable DOSH to collect information on the classified hazardous chemicals in the country.
Strengthen coordination and cooperation, including encourage industries to provide more information and conduct active dialogues between industries and regulatory agencies.
Improve public awareness, education, and capacity building, including revise training modules and encourage public awareness through multiple public media.
Efforts have been taken to improve the standard of safety and health in SME.
Protecting the safety and health of the workforce is one of the main goals and purposes of chemical management in Malaysia, resulting in the formulation of the OSHA and a series of other regulations. Ms. Hanisah emphasized that "the involvement and cooperation from various government agencies as well as employees' associations contribute to the success of Occupational Safety and Health programs, particularly in controlling the chemical hazards."
