What is DOSH? A Plain-Language Guide for Malaysian Employers

DOSH stands for the Department of Occupational Safety and Health — in Malay, Jabatan Keselamatan dan Kesihatan Pekerjaan, or JKKP. It is a government department under the Ministry of Human Resources, and it is the authority responsible for workplace safety and health across Malaysia. When people talk about "DOSH compliance" or a "JKKP requirement", they are talking about the same regulator.

DOSH's job is to make sure that employers keep their workers safe. It does this by enforcing the law, inspecting workplaces, issuing guidelines and codes of practice, investigating accidents, and prosecuting employers who fail in their duties.

What law does DOSH enforce?

The main law is the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA 1994, Act 514). It sets out the general duties of employers, employees, manufacturers and others to prevent harm at work. Sitting under it are many specific regulations covering things like safety committees, accident notification, chemical health risk assessment, noise exposure and more.

For decades, the older Factories and Machinery Act 1967 ran alongside OSHA. That Act has now been repealed and its requirements folded into OSHA, so that OSHA is the single, comprehensive workplace-safety law in Malaysia.

The 2024 change every employer must know

This is the most important update in years. The Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 came into force on 1 June 2024, and it changed the game for ordinary businesses in four big ways:

• Almost every workplace is now covered. OSHA used to apply mainly to specific industries such as manufacturing, construction and hospitality. It now applies to all places of work in Malaysia — offices, clinics, private schools, gyms, retail, co-working spaces — with only narrow exceptions such as domestic servants, the armed forces and work on board ships.
• Risk assessment is now a legal duty. A new provision requires every employer to formally identify hazards, assess the risks and put controls in place. In practice this means doing a documented HIRARC (Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment and Risk Control).
• Small workplaces need a safety coordinator. If your workplace does not require a full-time Safety and Health Officer but you have five or more employees, you must appoint one of them as an Occupational Safety and Health Coordinator.
• Penalties went up, and directors are on the hook. Fines for core duty breaches rose to as much as RM500,000, and company directors and officers can now be held personally liable.

Which businesses does DOSH cover?

Since 1 June 2024, the simple answer is: if you employ people in Malaysia, DOSH almost certainly covers you. A small trading company, a dental clinic, a logistics warehouse, a café, a training centre — all now fall under OSHA. The days of assuming "we're not a factory, so this doesn't apply to us" are over.

What every employer must do

Your exact obligations scale with your size and risk, but the common building blocks are:

• A written safety and health policy if you have five or more employees.
• A documented risk assessment (HIRARC) covering your work activities, kept up to date.
• A safety and health committee if you have 40 or more employees.
• A Safety and Health Officer (for prescribed higher-risk industries and larger workplaces) or an OSH Coordinator (five or more employees where an officer is not required).
• Information, instruction, training and supervision so workers can do their jobs safely.
• Accident and incident notification to DOSH for reportable accidents, dangerous occurrences, occupational poisonings and diseases.
• Emergency procedures for foreseeable emergencies at your workplace.

Why it matters beyond avoiding a fine

Workplace injuries in Malaysia are not rare. Official statistics recorded well over 38,000 occupational injury cases in a single recent year. Behind every number is a person, a family and a business dealing with downtime, investigation and, sometimes, prosecution. Strong DOSH compliance protects your people first — and, as a bonus, it protects your reputation, keeps you eligible for tenders, and makes audits and ESG reporting far easier.

How ProSafe helps you comply

Most business owners do not need to become safety-law experts — they need a clear, practical path to compliance. ProSafe HSE Consultancy translates OSHA into a checklist your team can actually work through: we run your HIRARC, draft your safety policy and documents, set up your committee, train your people, prepare you for DOSH inspections, and help you keep everything current as the rules evolve.