25/12/2025

THURSDAY | DEC 25, 2025

FOLLOW

ON TWITTER Malaysian Paper

10

@thesundaily

COMMENT by Chin Yew Sin

The 2025 safety paradox A S we close the chapter on 2025, a question hangs heavy in the minds of the public – and it is one that cuts through the noise of economics and politics to address our fundamental right to safety.

Looking back over the last 12 months, we must ask: “We have better laws and more specialised oversight than ever, so why do I still feel unsafe on the road, at work and even in the heart of my own community?” This review of 2025 is not merely a collection of statistics; it is a reflection on a national safety “reset” that, while legally ambitious, has yet to find its pulse on the ground. We entered 2025 still riding the momentum of the June 1, 2024 enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 (Osha). This “big bang” implementation, announced by then Human Resources minister Steven Sim as a hallmark of his first 100 days, was a legislative overhaul designed to signal a new era – one that shifted our national culture from reactive firefighting to proactive prevention. Yet, 18 months into this new era, the sense of security among everyday Malaysians has not followed the upward trajectory of our legislation. While we must credit our national agencies for their tireless outreach – conducting hundreds of engagement sessions and thousands of OSH Coordinator (OSHC) training modules – the community is left wondering if we have merely settled for a “compliance facade.” Completing a training module is only a first step; the true measure of 2025’s success should be the proactive actions taken upon returning to the workplace. Are these coordinators empowered to stop unsafe work, or are they simply filing paperwork to avoid a fine? The fragility of this culture was laid bare in November by the significant near-miss involving the ECRL temporary steel canopy collapse on the MRR2. A vehicle was crushed, and a life was spared by mere inches, yet this was no “unforeseeable act of God.” Preliminary findings point to a breakdown in the most basic safety barrier: the permit to work system. If a

“Despite our new laws, we are still operating in a mindset where ‘speed of completion’ remains the silent master, and safety is viewed as a hurdle rather than a value.

Tragedies like the Gerik bus crash and the Teluk Intan FRU truck-lorry collision remind us that road safety is a core infrastructure requirement. – PIC COURTESY OF FIRE AND RESCUE DEPT

infrastructure requirement. We cannot afford to be reactive when a single headline-grabbing event can spoil years of global promotion. The “grace period” for safety has officially expired. Malaysia no longer suffers from a lack of legislation; we suffer from a lack of demonstrated consequence. Reflecting on 2025, the public is tired of being told that “investigations are ongoing.” As we transition into 2026, we are looking for the “principal” who is held personally liable for a preventable death, the agency that admits its own compliance gaps and the operator that opens its emergency response logs to scrutiny. Safety is not a document to be filed; it is a culture to be lived. Until our leadership’s mindset shifts from promising safety to enforcing it, the amended Osha law will remain nothing more than ink on paper while the community continues to pay the price in trust. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

ensuring compliance is active before the crisis occurs. Transparency remains the only antidote to public fear, yet the Putra Heights gas pipeline rupture in April remains shrouded in technical silence. Investigative delays are often construed by the public as a desire to hide uncomfortable truths, even when that is not the intended case. We are still waiting for professional clarity on the operator’s effectiveness: Why did state of-the-art monitoring fail to provide an early warning of soil movement? More critically, did the isolation valves perform as intended? The magnitude of the damage could have been vastly different had the isolation been immediate. Without transparency on these response timelines, “lessons learned” remain hollow. As we look towards Visit Malaysia Year 2026, our safety record is no longer just a domestic concern; it is a global brand concern. Tragedies like the Gerik bus crash and the Teluk Intan FRU accident remind us that road safety is a core

multi-billion national infrastructure project can bypass critical safety protocols, we must reflect on whether we have truly learned anything. It suggests that, despite our new laws, we are still operating in a mindset where “speed of completion” remains the silent master, and safety is viewed as a hurdle rather than a value. This disconnect between promise and practice extends to our public institutions. If we expect the private sector to adhere to the law, our national agencies must lead by example. Under the amended Osha, the law now applies to all workplaces, including schools and government offices. Yet, we must ask: Do all our public institutions have a trained OSHC as required by Section 29A, or do they operate under an assumed immunity? When a public body bypasses these mandates, it is a failure of leadership that undermines the entire national safety agenda. Leadership is not about the scripted refrain we hear after every tragedy – “We will investigate and ensure it will not happen again.” – but about ringgit