SYNOPSIS   

This talk will provide engineers with a practical and industry-focused understanding of psychosocial hazards at the workplace, emphasizing why psychological safety is now a critical Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) issue alongside traditional physical hazards. The session begins by defining psychosocial hazards and exploring current trends and statistics related to psychological disorders in both Malaysian and global workplaces, including within engineering and high-risk industries.

The talk will also highlight how excessive workload, tight deadlines, shift work, poor communication, role ambiguity, bullying, and safety culture contribute to psychosocial risks among engineers and technical professionals.

Participants will be introduced to the latest Malaysian regulatory developments under the amended Occupational Safety and Health framework, including the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) Guidelines on Psychosocial Risk Assessment and Management at the Workplace 2024 (PRisMA 2024), as well as the role and requirement of Psychosocial Trained Persons (PTP) in conducting workplace assessments.

The session will further discuss the strengths of PRisMA 2024 as a workplace-based psychosocial risk assessment tool compared to individual screening approaches such as DASS, particularly in identifying organizational-level risk factors. Finally, practical prevention and intervention strategies tailored for engineering workplaces will be presented, focusing on leadership, work design, communication, fatigue management, reporting culture, and psychosocial risk governance to improve both employee wellbeing and operational performance.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mimi Haryani Hassim

Dr Mimi Hassim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). She leads one of the five National Centre of Excellence for OSH in Malaysia, leads the Safety and Health Research Group in UTM and also an associate member of the Institute of Noise and Vibration – the national High Centre of Excellence.

She is an editor for several journals including the top tier safety journals including Process Safety and Environmental Protection Journal, Journal of Loss Prevention in Process Industries and Annals of Work Exposures and Health, besides actively publishing journals, international and local books and handbooks, magazines and newsletters.

Dr was appointed to lead the Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene program committee during the development of the OSH Master Plan 2021-2025 (OSHMP25) for Malaysia and, led national study on chemical use-related regulation after 23 years of being gazetted. She was the committee of OSHMP25, under Strategy 3 – Promoting OSH Education and Research.

Currently she is the committee for OSHMP30 – for the program Industrial Hygiene for both chemical and noise hazards. She is an active member of Malaysian Industrial Hygiene Association used to serve as committee in MIHA for SME Working Group (Small and Medium Entreprises). She also has received research grants from the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) for three times.

Dr. Mimi is a DOSH certified Psychosocial Trained Person. She is currently active working with the Japan and South Korea counterparts, especially on mental health risk and well-being at workplace.