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Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994

AKTA KESELAMATAN DAN KESIHATAN PEKERJAAN 1994

Act 514 · consolidated to 1 Jun 2024 · 81 pp

Socio-economic rights
Consolidated to 1 June 2024. Amendments made after that date are not in this text. Check the AGC record for later amendments.
Why it matters

What this does to artists

Applies to every workplace, which includes a set, a stage, a rigging plot, a workshop and a studio. The 2022 amendments extended coverage and made it an offence for a principal to ignore the safety of contractors' workers, which is how most crew are engaged.

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Duties now reach the principal, not just the direct employer. Producers cannot subcontract the risk away.

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What to read first

Section numbers read out of the AGC text itself

s.15General duties of employers
s.24General duties of employees at work
s.29Safety and health officer
s.18BDuty to conduct and implement risk assessment
s.32Notification of accidents, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning and occupational diseases, and inquiry
s.31Functions of safety and health committee
In practice

Where this one bites

Scenario

DJ a club night

You are playing other people's recordings to a paying room. Three separate licences, one venue licence, a stat…

Scenario

Shoot and screen a film or documentary

Approval is the gate, a FINAS licence is the price of admission, and possession alone is an offence.…

Scenario

Stage a play, gig or live show

Two sets of performing rights, a venue licence, a duty on admissions, and the question of what your cast actua…

Scenario

Bring a foreign artist into Malaysia

Two gates, one tax, and the administrative one is the constraint on your timeline.…

Scenario

Run an arts organisation or collective

A collective that never chose a vehicle is already a partnership, with liabilities it never agreed to.…

Full arrangement of sections 94 sections · show / hide

Extracted from the AGC PDF on this page.

s.1Short title and application
s.2Prevailing laws
s.3Interpretation
s.4Objects of the Act
s.5Appointment of officers, etc
s.6Appointment of independent inspecting body
s.7Certificate of authorization
s.7AAppointment of licensed person, etc
s.7BRevocation of licence
s.7CGranting of new licence upon revocation
s.7DRepresenting as licensed person
s.8Establishment of the Council
s.9Membership of the Council
s.10Second Schedule to apply
s.11Powers and functions of the Council
s.12Appointment of secretary to the Council
s.13Committees
s.14Annual report
s.15General duties of employers
s.16Duty of employer to formulate occupational safety and health policy
s.17General duties of employers and self-employed persons to persons other than their employees
s.18Duties of an occupier of a place of work to persons other than his employees
s.18ADuties of principal
s.18BDuty to conduct and implement risk assessment
s.19Penalty for an offence under section 15, 16, 17, 18, 18A or 18B
s.20General duties of manufacturers, etc., as regards plant for use at work
s.21General duties of manufacturers, etc., as regards substances for use at work
s.22Explanations to sections 20 and
s.23Penalty for an offence under section 20 or
s.24General duties of employees at work
s.25Duty not to interfere with or misuse things provided pursuant to certain provisions
s.26Duty not to charge employees for things done or provided
s.26ARights of employees
s.27Discrimination against employee, etc
s.27ANotice of occupation of place of work
s.27BPrescription of plant requiring certificate of fitness
s.27CInstallation of plant
s.27DCertificate of fitness
s.27EPeriodical inspection of plant
s.27FSpecial scheme of inspection
s.27GDirector General may make orders in certain circumstances
s.28Occupational health service
s.28ANo action against person carrying out occupational health service
s.29Safety and health officer
s.29AOccupational safety and health coordinator
s.30Establishment of safety and health committee at place of work
s.31Functions of safety and health committee
s.31AOccupational safety and health training course
s.31BActivities to be carried out by competent person and registered training provider
s.31CApplication for registration
s.31DValidity of registration
s.31ERenewal of registration
s.31FCancellation of registration
s.32Notification of accidents, dangerous occurrence, occupational poisoning and occupational diseases, and inquiry
s.33Director General may direct inquiry to be held
s.34Power of occupational safety and health officer at inquiry
s.34ADuties of the owner, occupier, etc., in inquiry
s.35Power to prohibit the use of plant or substance
s.36(Deleted)
s.37Approval of industry codes of practice
s.38Use of industry codes of practice in proceedings
s.39Powers of entry, inspection, examination, seizure, etc
s.40Entry into premises with search warrant and power of seizure
s.41Entry into premises without search warrant and power of seizure
s.42Power of forceful entry and service on occupier of signed copy of list of things seized from premises
s.43Further provisions in relation to inspection
s.44Power of investigation
s.45Power to examine witnesses
s.46Employer, etc., to assist officer
s.47Offences in relation to inspection, examination or investigation
s.48Improvement notice and prohibition notice
s.49Penalty for failure to comply with notice
s.50Aggrieved person may appeal
s.51General penalty
s.52Liability of director, etc., of company, etc
s.52ALiability of person for act, etc., of employee, etc
s.53Offences committed by trade union
s.54Offences committed by agent
s.55(Deleted)
s.56Body corporate or trade union liable to fine
s.57Aiding and abetting
s.58Safeguards against further personal liability
s.59Civil liability not affected by Parts IV, V and VI
s.60Onus of proving limits of what is practicable
s.60AEvidence
s.61Prosecutions
s.62Compounding of offences
s.63Appeal committees
s.64Powers of appeal committee
s.65Decision of appeal committee
s.66Regulations
s.67Confidentiality of information
s.67APower to exempt
s.67BPower to amend Schedules
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Source of record · lom.agc.gov.my/act-detail.php?act=514&lang=BI

Who this reaches
Performing artsFilm & TVMusicVisual arts
Important notice

This page is published by ALIM (Art × Law Initiative Malaysia) as general legal information for Malaysia’s creative communities. It is not legal advice. It does not take your circumstances into account, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship with ALIM or with anyone associated with it.

The law changes. Each Act reproduced here is the Attorney General’s Chambers’ consolidated reprint and carries the date it was consolidated to; amendments made after that date do not appear in the text, and the authoritative version of any Malaysian law is the one published in the Federal Gazette. Subsidiary legislation, state enactments and local authority by-laws may also apply to your situation and are largely outside this library.

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