NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (Establishment)

Mr Ahmad Mohd Magad asked the Minister for Manpower what is the current status of the proposed establishment of the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health was one of the proposals of the Manpower21 Report.

Currently, my Ministry's Occupational Safety and Health (Training and Promotion) Centre carries out training in occupational safety and health (OSH) as well as implements programmes to promote OSH awareness. It conducts a wide range of training courses for managers, professionals, supervisors and workers. It also organises safety campaigns, seminars and workshops to promote safety and health in factories. We also have well-established private sector safety consultants to help companies improve their safety performance.

In the case of research and development, we should tap the results of work by institutions in developed countries which are more advanced in OSH R&D. If there is a need to carry out researches on our own occupational safety and health issues, we can do that in collaboration with our institutions of higher learning, perhaps with funding from National Science and Technology Board. In other words, the major features of a National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health are already being addressed by the existing industrial safety framework. Hence we do not see an urgent need to establish an Institute on Occupational Safety and Health at this juncture. However, we will review the need for such an institute sometime in future.