Human Factors And Ergonomics Society Malaysia (HFEM)

Human Factors And Ergonomics Society Malaysia (HFEM)

Fact sheet and contact details

President
Dr. Ng Yee Guan
shah86zam@gmail.com
Vice President 1

Associate Professor Dr. Dian Darina Indah Daruis

diandaruis@gmail.com
 Vice President 2
Mr. Raemy Md Zein
raemymdzein@gmail.com
Secretary

Dr. Ahmad Khushairy Makhtar

ahmadkhushairy@gmail.com

 
Assistant Secretary
Mr. Daryl Tan Liang Xue
daryl.tlx@gmail.com
Treasurer
Ts. Joel Lim Soo Yeen
joellsy1@gmail.com 

General overview of HFEM activities

HFEM coordinates several different initiatives to support their members including the following:

  • Special Interest Group (SIG) Program that includes SIGs for engineering, occupational ergonomics, transportation, and ergonomics in design for all (EinDfA).
  • Training seminars and webinars on various topics covering physical, cognitive and organisational factors
  • The Student Chapter which runs the ErgoCamp, among other activities
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Seminar (HFES)
  • Human Factors and Ergonomics Malaysia Conference (HFEMC)
  • Ergonomics Product Design Competition (ErgoLympic)

Recent Activities

This year (2022) has been a very busy year for the society. One of our biggest achievements was to have our own online membership registration and management, as well as a newly revamped website (www.hfem.org). Currently HFEM has around 104 active members. Our sources of funding come from the membership fees as well as from the training programs. This year (2017) we have managed to secure funding from the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) of Malaysia. Several training programs have been planned for the year of 2017, and all the programs are related the promotion of human factors and ergonomics in workplaces. Finally our most notable achievements for the year of 2017 was the publication of the “Guidelines On Ergonomics Risk Assessment At Workplace 2017”, as well as the development of a manual materials handling guidelines which were developed jointly with the Department of Occupational Safety and Health in Malaysia (DOSH) as well as the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (NIOSH). The guidelines mark the starting point for future collaborations between HFEM and the Malaysian government in making human factors and ergonomics as part of the Malaysian legal framework.

–Shamsul Bahri Mohd Tamrin and Mohd Syafiq, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Malaysia (HFEM)

Status of Human Factors/ Ergonomics (HFE) in Malaysia

HFEM aspires to be a leader in Human Factors and Ergonomics development by advancing the discipline, profession, and society at large. This is partly motivated by the fact that HFE is still at a developmental stage in the country with awareness about the discipline being relatively low. HFE in Malaysia is practiced in most industries, including manufacturing, electronics, construction, oil and gas, agriculture, retail and wholesale, transportation, and product design. However, this is mostly the case in large enterprises, with levels of adoption of HFE being minimal to non-existent in small and medium enterprises. Some of the challenges and barriers to widespread implementation of HFE in Malaysia, that HFEM has identified, include lack of awareness, a deficient education system that cannot promote awareness and growth requirements, and a lack of integrated and coordinated HFE efforts and interventions in the country to showcase the discipline.

While there is no HFE-specific legislation mandating companies to implement HFE in the country, legal requirements for managing HFE are currently being drafted by the government in collaboration with HFEM. To work towards more wide-spread implementation of HFE, Guidelines on Ergonomics Risk Assessment at the Workplace were developed by HFEM and introduced in 2017, with the aim of providing guidance in assessing and managing poor physical ergonomics issues at workplaces. This was further supplemented by several ergonomics related guidelines – Guidelines for Manual Handling at the Workplace in 2018, Guidelines on Occupational Safety and Health for Lighting at Workplaces, in 2018. At the moment, there are 3 ergonomics-related Guidelines that are in the review process and are expected to be published in 2022:

  • Guidelines on OSH for Standing at Work,
  • Guidelines on OSH for Sitting at Work, and
  • Guidelines on Ergonomics Risk Assessment for Display Screen Equipment

HFEM collaborates with strategic organisations, governing bodies, and institutions to raise awareness, and strengthen the implementation of HFE in private and government organisations. HFEM also runs an Occupational Safety and Health event annually in collaboration with The Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) to contribute to the reduction of accidents and poor HFE-related injuries in Malaysia.

HFEM Membership

HFEM membership is open to Malaysian and international HFE professionals and others who are interested. Individuals who are interested in becoming members can visit https://member.hfem.org/ to register. The contact details and social media page links provided below can also be used to keep up with developments within HFEM:

Inquiries: secretary@hfem.org