PPE and Safe Work: Lessons on Hearing Protection, Falls and Machinery Risks

Select hearing protection for the assessed exposure

A Selangor notice describes a food-sector employer fined RM8,000 on 29 May 2023 for hearing protection that did not meet the noise risk assessment recommendations. The offence was dated 30 September 2022. The poster highlights differences in noise reduction ratings: the example rating pictured should not be treated as a universal specification for every workplace.

Protect people working at height and over water

A Kuala Lumpur statement dated 10 October 2018 reported a total RM3,000 fine following scaffold maintenance at height without the stated fall-protection equipment and without direct supervision by an appointed supervisor.

Two Johor construction cases also concerned supervision. On 22 August 2019, an employer was fined RM15,000 after a fatal forklift-related incident dated 28 December 2018. A separate statement dated 26 August 2019 reported an RM18,000 fine following inadequate supervision of touch-up skim-coat work and a fatal fall on 20 January 2019.

In Perak, a case decided on 16 January 2020 resulted in a RM40,000 fine after a worker installing glass at a shopping complex fell from more than six metres on 5 October 2019. The notice identified failure to provide a safe system of work.

A Selangor aquaculture notice reported a RM45,000 fine after a worker drowned on 16 September 2021. The described failure was not providing a life jacket during fish-feeding work from a platform beside floating cages. This example shows why PPE selection must reflect the work environment as well as the task.

Control machinery hazards at their source

Another Perak case decided on 16 January 2020 involved an RM15,000 fine after unsafe iron-cutting work caused a serious finger injury on 11 March 2019. A Selangor stamping-machine notice reported a RM35,000 fine for failure to ensure the machine functioned safely, with permanent hand injury described in the case.

A building-materials case decided on 18 November 2024 resulted in combined fines of RM70,000. The notice concerned a fatal fall into a cement mixer, failure to securely cover or fence the opening, and failure to provide safe access. These examples emphasise machine condition, guarding and access arrangements alongside personal protection.

Supervise specialist work

A Kuala Lumpur statement dated 20 August 2025 reported an RM50,000 fine against an engineering employer for failing to supervise resistance-testing work associated with an accident on 20 May 2022. PPE should be incorporated into task planning, competent supervision and appropriate equipment checks.

Source: DOSH/JKKP enforcement notices and supporting materials supplied in the corresponding topic folder. Repeated images of the same case are consolidated. Dates and fines describe the historical cases shown, rather than current maximum penalties.