The WSH Act took effect on 1 March 2006 and Replaces the hold Factories Act.

The Workplace Safety and Health Act is an essential part of a New Occupational Safety & Health(OSH) Framework to cultivate good safety habits in all individuals at the workplace from top management to the last worker.

Subsidiary Legislations under WSH Act:

• The Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations
• The Workplace Safety and Health (Incident Reporting) Regulations
• The Workplace Safety and Health (Registration of Factories) Regulations
• The Workplace Safety and Health (First-Aid) Regulations
• The Workplace Safety and Health (Risk-Management) Regulations
• The Workplace Safety and Health (Exemption) Regulations

Three Key Principles of the Act

• Reduce risk at source by requiring all stakeholders to eliminate or minimize the risk they create at the workplace;
• Instill greater industry ownership of OSH standards.(Shift from complying with prescriptive requirements to making employers responsible for developing work and safety procedures.)
• Preventing accidents through higher penalties for poor safety and health management.

The WSH Act requires every person at the workplace to take reasonably practicable steps to ensure the safety and health of every workplace and worker.