Why Every Safety Practitioner Should Be Familiar with MS1722

Some safety practitioner struggle to decide where to start when they set out to establish an effective occupational safety and health program. Implementing the components of MS 1722 not only will alleviate the burden of determining where to begin, but also will ensure the implementation of a researched and standardised program.

What is MS 1722?

With its foundation in the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” principle of workplace improvement, Standards Malaysia, MS 1722 is a voluntary occupational safety and health management system that was developed through the Department of Oaccupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and first published in 2003.

The standard provides the following basic elements: management leadership and employee participation; program planning; program implementation and operations; program evaluation and corrective actions; and management review. In addition, the standard also addresses risk controls, audits, incident/accident investigations, responsibilities and authorities. Suited for organisations of all sizes and applications, the standard was designed to facilitate sustainable growth in occupational safety and health programs.

The Standard’s Significance

With a primary purpose of providing a management tool that reduces the risk of occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities, MS 1722 provides a functional approach to program management.

MS 1722 is comparable to other management systems, such as  OHSAS 18001 (published by the British Standards Institute). It also can be integrated with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. These systems remove the guesswork from OSH program management and provide a tangible and tested approach to program management.

The Importance of Implementation

Since its inception in 2003, MS 1722 has not been largely implemented. I suspect this is because it is a voluntary standard, and unfortunately, many organisations will only implement what they are legally required to. Implementing the MS 1722 standard, however, will only further augment an existing program and move the organization closer to an incident-free workplace.

Implementing voluntary standards such as MS 1722 helps an organisation transition from the historic safety management approach of “We will do only what we are required to do” to the progressive approach of “We will do what is necessary to achieve the greatest amount of success in our OSH programs.”

When it comes to safety, that “greatest amount of success” can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. And that is why every safety practitioner should be familiar with MS 1722.