001.docx
DOI: 10.3303/CET2189011
Paper Received: 1 July 2021; Revised: 7 October 2021; Accepted: 15 November 2021
Please cite this article as: Rohani J.M., Rashid S.A., Mahmud H., Kamarden H., Jalil N.K.A., Mohd Nor N.N., Razak F.A., Kidam K., 2021,
Knowledge and Readiness of COVID-19 and MCO from the Perspective of Safety and Health Competent Persons and Training Providers in
Malaysia, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 89, 61-66 DOI:10.3303/CET2189011
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS
VOL. 89, 2021
A publication of
The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.cetjournal.it
Guest Editors: Jeng Shiun Lim, Nor Alafiza Yunus, Jiří Jaromír Klemeš
Copyright © 2021, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.
ISBN 978-88-95608-87-7; ISSN 2283-9216
Knowledge and Readiness of COVID-19 and MCO from the
Perspective of Safety and Health Competent Persons and
Training Providers in Malaysia
Jafri Mohd Rohania, Siti Aishah Rashidb, Hafizah Mahmudc, Hamidah Kamardenc,
Nur Kamilah Abd Jalilc, Nurul Nasuha Mohd Norc, Fateha Abdul Razakc,
Kamarizan Kidamc,*
a School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
b Environmental Health Research Center, Institute for Medical Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Ministry of
Health, Shah Alam, Malaysia
c UTM-MPRC Institute for Oil and Gas (IFOG), School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia,81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
kamarizan@utm.my
The effects and aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing Movement Control Order (MCO) will be felt
for a long while, even after the MCO period ends. It is imperative to determine and measure the level of
knowledge and readiness among Safety and Health Competent Persons (SHCPs) and Training Providers
(TPs) in handling issues relating to COVID-19 during the MCO in Malaysia. A survey instrument was
developed and validated by expert panels from academia and enforcement agency. A pilot study involving 40
respondents showed high reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha score of 0.95 and 0.96 for SHCP and TP. A full-
blown research was carried out for two weeks from the 14th to 28th of April 2020. This cross-sectional study
covers all states in Malaysia and has been distributed to approximately 3,000 respondents with a response
rate of 10.6 % from respondents employed in various sectors. The construction sectors recorded the highest
percentage of responses as compared to other sectors at 37 % followed by manufacturing sectors at 23 %
and public services and statutory authorities at 18 %. The companies are a mix of small, medium-sized
enterprises (47 %), and large establishments (53 %), which altogether have a wide range of turnover rates.
This study highlights that SHCPs and TPs in Malaysia have moderate post-MCO awareness and readiness in
terms of knowledge, skills, standard operating procedure, social distancing, and basic equipment to control
and curb workplace contagion after the MCO is lifted. There are uncertainties regarding the TP's willingness to
budget for and bear the daily costs of the decontamination procedure, personal protective equipment usage,
space availability, and the COVID-19 screening process. The readiness of SHCPs and TPs have been
measured and identified. SHCPs and TPs need more knowledge in post-MCO COVID-19 management,
especially in terms of the capacity of the trained staff to adequately screen workers for COVID-19 symptoms
after the MCO is lifted. SHCPs and TPs believe they are underprepared, but they are willing to learn more
about pandemic preparedness if training options are provided. A plan of action to address these issues has
been proposed to DOSH Malaysia for guidance on formulating the next step forward.
1. Introduction
Coronavirus is an ongoing pandemic that is causing fatalities globally. The outbreak started with the first case
reported in Wuhan, Hubei, China, in December 2019 (WHO, 2020). Individuals diagnosed with the disease
experienced fever, dry cough, fatigue, and occasional gastrointestinal symptoms that initially spread through
social interactions. More than 2.1 M cases were reported worldwide as of the 18th of April 2020, and 5,305
cases were from Malaysia. In mid-March 2020, Malaysia recorded a rapid increase in the number of positive
cases. The statistics have shown that COVID-19 has spread exponentially across the world, prompting many
countries to implement social distancing and lockdown/movement control orders. The Malaysian government
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has imposed a partial lockdown or known as the Movement Control Order (MCO) to help combat the COVID-
19 pandemic, effective 18th March 2020, to introduce social distancing and abate the transmission rate of the
virus including shutting down all government and private premises except for those involved in “essential
services” (Pintarič and Kravanja, 2020). During the MCO, the government, through the Malaysian National
Security Council (NSC) or Majlis Keselamatan Negara (MKN), conducted roadblocks throughout the country
(Azman, 2020) to monitor the movement of the people and warned all MCO violators that they would be
penalised (United Nations Development Programme, 1994). Malaysia’s military forces also joined hands with
the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to enforce MCO on the 22nd of March 2020. The MCO order was extended
three times, each for a further two weeks, until the 12th of May 2020. On the 13th of May 2020, Malaysia
moved into the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO). On the 8th of June 2020, the government
introduced the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO), which ran until 31st of August 2020. This control is
made under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act 1988 and the Police Act 1967. Safety and
Health Competent Persons (SHCPs) and Training Providers (TPs) as frontline professionals advocating for
the occupational safety and health (OSH) conditions at work, have a pivotal role in an organisation. Other than
the actual task of being a competent person and a centre for training, SHCPs and TPs require appropriate and
sufficient knowledge to ensure adequate preventive measure at the workplace. Due to the COVID-19
pandemic, the preventive measures are focused on measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Such
interventions can be accomplished by ascertaining this community's comprehension and whether it possesses
sufficient information and the appropriate attitude regarding COVID-19 transmission and prevention.
To date, there is no study done in Malaysia, particularly in the SHCP and TP community, to evaluate the level
of awareness, and the knowledge of these groups about the transmission and preventive measures put in
place to mitigate the COVID-19 outbreak at their workplace. A study of public knowledge, attitudes, and
practises regarding COVID-19 revealed that managing and controlling an outbreak requires a thorough
understanding of the disease by the population in order to prevent its spread within the community (Azlan et
al., 2020). Albeit the results of studies in the United States and United Kingdom claiming that participants have
generally good knowledge on the main mode of disease transmission and common symptoms, the survey
identified several important misconceptions including beliefs in falsehoods that have circulated on social
media, for example, that children appear to be at a lower risk for a fatal disease than adults (Rubin and Crowe,
2020). This shows that such studies are critical in determining the status of knowledge and readiness among
the target subjects of interest, whether the general public or a particular group. The next step that is essential
is correcting these misconceptions that should be targeted in information campaigns organised by the
authorities. The objective of this study is to measure the level of knowledge and readiness of the SHCPs and
TPs in Malaysia concerning the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and MCO, and to compare the differences
between SHCP and TPs capabilities between SMEs and large companies.
2. Methods
2.1 Construction of the questionnaire
The questionnaire consisted of 36 items with six main sections: A) Demographics of respondents, B) General
impact of COVID-19 and MCO; C) Employer cooperation; D) Competence license of SHCP; E) Effect of
COVID-19 and MCO to TPs registered with DOSH Malaysia and F) Suggestions and recommendations from
respondents. In section C of question number four, the level of preparedness of TPs and SHCPs in terms of
knowledge (components 1–6) and capacity (components 7–17) for containing the spread of COVID-19 and
ensuring compliance during MCO is assessed using 17 components found in the items. This questionnaire is
attempting to solicit perception of SHCPs and TPs regarding general knowledge pertaining MCO and Covid-
19. Due to sample size limitation of approximately 10 % of the respondents, this survey will provide some
indications of the sample size and does not represent the entire SHCPs and TPs.
2.2 Validity and reliability
To ensure content validity, all the items were examined through Focus Group Discussion (FGD), expert panels
from academia and enforcement agency. There are two aspects that have been reviewed. The first is
semantics ensuring the sentences are compatible with the target population (SHCPs and TPs in Malaysia)
and the other is content of the questionnaire. The questions are suitable and adequate to measure the
objective of this study. The items were finalised based on the opinion of the team of experts to include in the
instrument/questionnaire in the related fields. The required sample size of 10 % was used in the pilot study to
ensure a face validity and reliability of the questionnaire. A total of 40 respondents were picked at random
from various sectors to see if the questions allowed the group to comprehend the content, and they were
asked to state any difficulties they had with the questionnaire (Shariat et al., 2016). The reliability of the
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questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach's alpha in all items, considering the minimum value of 0.6
(Sasaki et al., 2020).
2.3 Respondents
Preliminary testing occurred using a convenience sample of 40 respondents. Respondents were asked to
provide feedback and opinions on items that were difficult to respond to. The items will be re-examined and
revised. The full-blown survey involved 3,000 respondents that were recruited from registrants of a DOSH
website.
2.4 Statistical data analysis
For analysis, the data were entered and processed using SPSS 22.0 software (Arkkelin, 2019). Descriptive
statistics consist of mean and standard deviation (SD). To investigate the group differences of readiness and
knowledge, t-test was carried out. The mean and standard deviation (SD) for each Likert scale question were
calculated. The mean of perceived weak knowledge was set between 1.00 and 2.99, the mean of perceived
moderate knowledge was set between 3.00 and 3.99, and the mean of perceived strong knowledge was set
between 4.00 and 5.00. This was true both for individual items and for the overall score. For demographic
variables, frequencies and percentages were calculated.
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Demographics
This study's sample included 318 respondents that consist of SHCPs and TPs. This online survey covers all
states in Malaysia and has been distributed to approximately 3,000 respondents with a response rate of 10.6
%. Gender, age, level of education, status of work, sector, and size of the company are presented in Table 1
by frequencies and percentages.
Table 1: Demographics of respondents
n = 318
(SHCP + TP)
n = 267
(SHCP)
N = 51
(TP)
n % n % n %
Gender
Male 269 85 227 85 42 83
Female 49 15 40 15 9 18
Age
18-25 y 7 2 7 3 0 0
26-35 y 126 40 117 44 9 18
36-45 y 99 31 81 30 18 35
46-55 y 66 21 48 18 18 35
More than 55 y 20 6 14 5 6 12
Level of education
SRP/PMR 1 0.3 0 0 1 2
SPM/ STPM 26 8 23 9 3 6
Diploma 99 31 94 35 5 10
Bachelor’s 107 34 92 35 15 29
Master’s 68 21 53 20 15 29
PhD’s 17 5 5 2 12 24
Representative
OSH Competent person 248 78 230 86 18 35
Training center representative 9 3 1 0 8 16
OSH trainer 20 6 3 1 17 33
OSH competent firm representative 1 0.3 1 0 0 0
Employee representative 21 7 18 7 3 6
Employer representative 11 4 9 3 2 4
OSH NGO 2 0.6 1 0 1 2
DOSH Officers 6 2 4 2 2 4
Type of sector
Manufacturing 72 23 65 24 7 14
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Table 1: Demographics of respondents (continue)
n = 318
(SHCP + TP)
n = 267
(SHCP)
N = 51
(TP)
n % n % n %
Mining and Quarrying 8 3 8 3 0 0
Construction 116 37 103 39 13 26
Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 4 1 4 2 0 0
Utilities ‐ Gas, Electricity, Water and Sanitary Services 29 9 27 10 2 4
Transport, Storage and Communication 12 4 12 5 0 0
Wholesale and Retail Trades 1 0.3 1 0 0 0
Hotels and Restaurant 4 1 2 1 2 4
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate and Business Services 16 5 10 4 6 12
Public Services and Statutory Authorities 56 18 35 13 21 41
Size of Company
Small (Manufacturing) (5 until <75 of full-time worker) 20 6 19 7 1 2
Small (Services and other Sector) (5 until <30 of full-time
worker)
24 8 19 7 5 10
Medium (Manufacturing) (75 until <200 of full-time worker) 47 15 42 16 5 10
Medium (Services and other Sector) (75 until <200 of fulltime) 29 9 25 9 4 8
Large (>200 of full time worker) 168 53 146 55 22 43
3.2 Knowledge and readiness of participants in handling issues relating to COVID-19
The frequency distributions and descriptive statistics for the responses to 17 components concerning SHCP’s
knowledge and employer`s capacity in handling issues relating to COVID-19 at the workplace are presented in
Table 2. The mean scores for each item were sorted in order of high to low. The overall mean score based on
the 17 components was 3.56 ± 1.04 (not shown), which leans towards the high end (i.e., towards
‘‘knowledgeable/has capacity’’) of the five-point scale and implies that the level of readiness is average,
indicating that the level of readiness among SHCPs and TPs in Malaysia is moderate. The findings of this
study show that the majority of respondents agreed that the SHCPs were ready in terms of knowledge, skills,
SOP screening and social distancing as well as basic equipment to control the spread of the COVID-19
outbreak in the workplace when MCO is lifted as the component relating to knowledge was in the top five
rating. The highest rating by the respondents is the item stating that SHCPs/TPs in Malaysia know the
consequences if they failed to comply with the MCO and can provide MCO notice to all employees (Mean:
3.99). Respondents were uncertain about employers' willingness to provide a budget to cover the daily costs
of defaulting operations, use of PPE, space provision, and other screening facilities as related items were in
the bottom rating. The lowest rating by the respondents is the item that states SHCPs have the financial
capacity to appoint a contractor to carry out the process of cleaning and disinfecting the workplace at the end
of MCO (Mean: 3.18). Although all participants stated that they know the effects of non-compliance with MCO
and provided notice to all employees, most of them do not have sufficient information about workplace
disinfection processes when the employees return to work. This could indicate a lack of timely and credible
information about post-MCO preparedness to contain the contagion. This variation in knowledge levels may
reflect the country’s current COVID-19 information landscape. Albeit health authorities have consistently
disseminated information about COVID-19 since Malaysia's first case of the disease was discovered, false
and inaccurate information have also been circulating on the mass media (Bernama, 2020).
3.3 Differences in the knowledge and capacity of SHCPs in SMEs and large companies
The difference in knowledge and capacity of SHCP (n = 267) scores among the different sizes of companies
were assessed using t-test analysis. The results show that the employer’s capabilities to control spreading of
COVID-19 at workplace for Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) was significantly different from large companies
as the p-value of each component (7–17 except component no 10) were less than 0.05. The item that showed
a highly significant difference was the item that states SHCP/employer has the financial capacity to appoint a
contractor to carry out the process of cleaning and disinfecting the workplace after MCO is lifted (p = 0.000). It
is well known that SMEs and large companies are very different in many aspects, especially involving financial
capability (Surienty et al., 2011). In the case of SMEs, OSH implementation is often irrelevant as they do not
have a vast workforce to do health screenings and do not have financial allocation for screening tools coupled
with the economic crisis that is happening around the world due to COVID-19 where SMEs are severely
affected (Che Omar et al., 2020). There was no significant difference between those groups in terms of
knowledge of COVID-19 (Table 3). The information about risk of COVID-19, cleaning procedures, health
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screenings and operating procedures were issued by National Security Council Malaysia, Ministry of Health
(MOH) as well as other relevant authorities. MOH have been consistently disseminating and updating COVID-
19 information using mass media and social media. Ultimately, all Malaysians including SHCPs, have
adequate knowledge to prevent the spreading of COVID-19 in the community (Azlan et al., 2020). In the
workplace, Ministry of Human Resources Malaysia reminded all employers and employees to comply with
OSHA 1994 and take control measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 at the workplace by issuing a
compliance order in March. DOSH Malaysia has published COVID-19 safe operating procedures at the
workplace as a guide to employers and employees for prevention of COVID-19.
Table 2: Level of readiness of COVID-19 handling in workplace for SHCP
17 components related to COVID-19 knowledge and capacity of SHCP Mean SD
C4_6: Knows the effects of failure to comply with MCO and how to provides MCO notice to
all employees
3.99 0.930
C4_5: Provides warning notices to all employees about the dangers of COVID-19 3.92 0.913
C4_1: Have the knowledge and exposure to the best control method of COVID-19 3.76 0.916
C4_3: Knows about the procedure to return to operation after MCO 3.76 0.947
C4_15: Have the knowledge and best practices to implement 1-meter social distancing in
workplace operations at the end of MCO
3.75 1.008
C4_2: Knowledgeable and able to control the COVID-19 outbreak in the workplace 3.69 0.925
C4_4: Knows about cleaning methods and disinfecting processes in the workplace before
workers are allowed to work after the MCO
3.68 0.994
C4_7: Having capacity in terms of SOP and best practices to conduct COVID-19
symptomatic health screening when MCO ends
3.63 1.024
C4_17: COVID-19 pandemic risk considerations in HIRARC and having basic SOPs 3.61 1.065
C4_10: Has capacity in SOP and cooperation with MOH if any employee fails (there is a
positive sign) during COVID-19 symptomatic health screening at the end of MCO
3.6 1.042
C4_16: Has the financial and supply capacity to provide PPE daily to all employees 3.45 1.122
C4_8: Has the capacity in terms of safe space for COVID-19 symptom health screening 3.44 1.066
C4_9: Has the capacity in terms of screening tools for COVID-19 symptomatic screening 3.35 1.118
C4_12: Has the capacity of trained staff to carry out the process of cleaning and
disinfecting the workplace at the end of the MCO
3.23 1.159
C4_13: Has the capacity in terms of equipment to carry out the process of cleaning and
disinfecting the workplace at the end of MCO
3.23 1.133
C4_14: Has enough trained staff to screen COVID-19 symptoms for many employees 3.19 1.100
C4_11: Has the financial capacity to appoint a contractor to carry out the process of
cleaning and disinfecting the workplace at the end of MCO
3.18 1.156
Table 3: Differences in the knowledge and capacity of SHCPs in SMEs and large companies
Items Knowledge/
capacity
Group N Mean Std
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
Sig.
C4_1 Knowledge Large 146 3.86 0.902 0.075 0.202
NSD
SME 121 3.71 0.953 0.087
C4_2- Large 146 3.75 0.899 0.074 0.463 NSD
SME 121 3.67 0.969 0.088
C4_3- Large 146 3.86 0.894 0.074 0.158 NSD
SME 121 3.69 0.973 0.088
C4_4- Large 146 3.77 0.960 0.079 0.166 NSD
SME 121 3.60 1.045 0.095
C4_5- Large 146 4.05 0.853 0.071 0.051 NSD
SME 121 3.83 0.978 0.089
C4_6- Large 146 4.10 0.833 0.069 0.067 NSD
SME 121 3.88 1.042 0.095
C4_7- Capacity Large 146 3.81 0.942 0.078 0.013 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.50 1.042 0.095
C4_8 Large 146 3.59 1.061 0.088 0.021 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.29 1.044 0.095
C4_9 Large 146 3.49 1.084 0.090 0.043 P<0.05(*)
65
Table 3: Differences in the knowledge and capacity of SHCPs in SMEs and large companies (continue)
NSD: Non Significant Different,*, p<0.05; **,p<0.01;***,p<0.005;****,p<0.0001
4. Conclusion
The current study was able to conduct a thorough examination of SHCPs and TPs' readiness for COVID-19
and MCO. The findings suggest that level of readiness among SHCPs and TPs in Malaysia was revealed to
be moderate. There are significant differences in terms of capabilities to combat COVID-19 at the workplace
when comparing SHCPs from SMEs and large companies. A longitudinal research for the year 2021 should
be conducted so that early findings from last year and this year can be compared. A plan of action to address
these issues has been proposed to DOSH Malaysia for guidance on formulating the next step forward.
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Items Knowledge/
capacity
Group N Mean Std
Deviation
Std. Error
Mean
Sig.
C4_10- Capacity Large 146 3.69 1.007 0.083 0.182 NSD
SME 121 3.52 1.081 0.098
C4_11- Large
SME
146
121
3.33
3.03
1.096
1.040
0.091
0.095
0.026 P<0.05(*)
C4_12- Large 146 3.36 1.125 0.093 0.036 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.06 1.178 0.107
C4_13 - Large 146 3.38 1.084 0.090 0.021 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.07 1.153 0.105
C4_14- Large 146 3.45 1.163 0.096 0.000 P<0.001
(****) SME 121 2.93 1.074 0.098
C4_15- Large 146 3.90 0.985 0.082 0.021 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.61 1.067 0.097
C4_16- Large 146 3.66 1.079 0.089 0.013
P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.32 1.112 0.101
C4_17- Large 146 3.73 1.005 0.083 0.039 P<0.05(*)
SME 121 3.46 1.126 0.102
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011.pdf
Knowledge and Readiness of COVID-19 and MCO from the Perspective of Safety and Health Competent Persons and Training Providers in Malaysia