KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — The government is committed to ensuring that Malaysians have a healthy, safe and more humane workplace and working conditions, said Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.

Commenting on the Global Life-Work Balance Index which placed Malaysia at the bottom of 60 countries, Sim said the government has been making various improvements towards that goal including ratifying the Convention C155 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on June 11.

He said the move was also in line with the enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 from June 1.

"Before the amendment, the Act applied only to 10 economic sectors, now under the amendment effective June 1, it applies to all economic sectors to ensure a safer and healthier workplace environment,” he told a press conference after the launch of the Neurodiversity Inclusion Impact Programme here today.

Sim said, this year, the Ministry of Human Resources in collaboration with the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) targeted to train more than 10,000 Occupational Mental Health First Aid providers in private companies and government departments.

"This is to ensure that our workplace is safe and healthy not only physically, but also balancing mental health,” he said.

Sim said the enforcement of the Employment Act (Amendment) 2022 from January 1 last year, which includes provisions related to anti-discrimination and flexible working hours, was also part of the government’s efforts to ensure a healthy work environment and atmosphere.

The Global Work and Life Balance Index released by global human resource services company, Remote, recently ranked Malaysia 59th out of 60 countries with the highest Gross Domestic Product in the world. — Bernama