A STUDY OF THE CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (OHSMS) IN

SARAWAK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

TEO AIH

April 2016

ABSTRACT

It was world widely agreed that construction industry is always hazardous. Therefore, Occupational
Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) is vital to reduce such risk. The objectives of the
present study are (1) assess practitioners awareness of the OHSMS; (2) investigate the critical
success factors contributing to the success of a safety management system; and (3) suggest the most
effective methods to encourage OHSMS implementation. The research method being chosen is
quantitative method. The questionnaire survey is conducted in Sarawak among the contractors with
CIDB G7. The results of the survey showed that majority of the participants are aware of the
existence and importance of OHSMS. On the other hand, the most significant critical success factor
that might affect the OHSMS implementation is cooperation and commitment from all parties,
followed by safety committee/officer, management commitment, sufficient resources
allocation and effective communication. The findings also revealed that based on the
practitioners perception, the most effective methods to improve OHSMS implementation is safe
work habit, followed by increase in safety training and education for workers, improvement in
safety operations, increase in safety inspection and increase in safety investment in terms of
manpower, capital and finance. The present study showed that theres still room for the construction
companies to invest more in providing safety training and education to their employees to improve
cooperation and commitment to safety and improve the safe work habit. The findings of the present
study are hoped to be helpful in improving the safety of construction industry.

Keywords:
Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS), awareness, Critical Success
Factors (CSF), methods.