Design for Safety (DfS) Organisational Capability in Malaysia: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective

Design for Safety (DfS) in the Malaysian construction industry has only been known since the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health in Construction Industry (Management) (OSHCI(M)) guidelines in 2017. Since its introduction, little effort has been made to capture the current state of construction organisations' DfS capability towards fulfilling the roles and responsibilities, as defined in the legislative / guideline framework. Therefore, this paper aims to discuss the current state of DfS organisational capability among key stakeholders in the Malaysian construction industry. In previous studies, six major elements of DfS organisational capability were identified, namely; competency, corporate experience, collaboration, infrastructure, strategy, and system. Based on these elements, a gap analysis on the capabilities of various construction organisations was conducted via an online questionnaire survey that was designed and administered to multiple stakeholders. The findings indicated that all 18 attributes under the six main elements are important in determining an organisation's ability to practise DfS. In order to adequately enhance the adoption of DfS practices amongst organisations, additional initiatives such as incentivisation, early education, practical guidance, professional training, and enforcement must be incorporated into existing DfS frameworks. As the OSHCI(M) implementation grows, the findings from this study have salient implications in enhancing the ability of construction organisations to instil DfS practices from the upstream stages of typical projects lifecycles. This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing a primer attempt to capture the DfS organisational capability in developing countries (i.e., Malaysia), particularly when a DfS framework is in place.