Survey on the Quality of Life and Occupational Health and Safety of Small and Medium Enterprise Factory Workers

Principal Investigator

Prof Dr Sarinah Low Abdullah
Dean’s Office, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya
 Email: lowwy(at)um.edu.my
 Contact: +603-7967 5729

Executive Summary

Worker’s health, safety & wellbeing are vital concerns to the working population. The major occupational diseases/morbidity of concerns is scoliosis, musculo-skeletal injuries, chronic obstructive lung diseases, asbestosis, byssinosis, pesticide poisoning and noise induced hearing loss. Such medical conditions are universal in Asian countries such as those in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and elsewhere. Health at the workplace, esp in some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) factories whose working environment may not be conducive to the workers, their mental health, physical health and their overall quality of life are then affected, which in turn affect workers, their mental health, physical health and their overall quality of life are then affected, which in turn affect productivity. Early detection and identification of risk and protective factors is crucial in the planning of intervention programs for the SME factory workers.

This study aims to assess the quality of life (QoL) and occupational health and safety of small and medium enterprise factory workers in Malaysia (and the ASEAN Economic Communities (AEC) including Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia).

The objectives of this project are:

1. To examine the various occupational health and safety conditions and management systems in Malaysia (and the other 4 ASEAN countries)
2. To determine the prevalence rates of common self-reported medical conditions and the psycho-social status of the SME factory workers in Malaysia (and the other 4 ASEAN countries)
3. To determine the work ability and the quality of life of SME factory workers in Malaysia (and the other 4 ASEAN countries)
4. To identify factors (predictive and risk factors) associated with the various medical conditions, psychosocial status, occupational workability and the quality of life of these SME factory workers
5. To suggest recommendations, strategies and interventions based on the findings from the study for policy development