Although Malaysian construction occupational safety and health (OSH) research has expanded significantly across multiple domains, the knowledge base remains fragmented, with limited understanding of its intellectual evolution, thematic convergence and alignment with national regulatory and industry transformation agendas. This study aims to systematically map the intellectual evolution, thematic structure and future direction of construction OSH research in Malaysia.
A bibliometric review of 224 Scopus-indexed publications between 2006 and March 2026 was conducted. Performance analysis examined publication growth, citation impact, sources, authors, institutions and country contributions, while science mapping and thematic analysis were used to interpret keyword structures and emerging clusters.
Malaysian construction OSH research expanded substantially after 2020, shifting from reactive accident reporting and site-level safety management towards proactive concerns with governance, digital safety, upstream design responsibility, worker vulnerability and safety culture and duty-holder accountability. Six themes were identified: industry-level health and safety governance; accident prevention and technology-enabled risk evidence; project actors and duty-holder roles; upstream prevention, performance and worker vulnerability; BIM-enabled safety management and adoption barriers and behavioural compliance and safety participation. Although increasingly aligned with Malaysia’s CDM Regulations 2024, the field remains fragmented across accident, technology, governance, design and behavioural research streams.
The review provides evidence-based directions for strengthening lifecycle OSH governance, design-stage risk prevention, digital safety and worker-centred interventions. These directions are relevant to Malaysia and to other developing-country construction contexts facing similar challenges in regulatory implementation, duty-holder capability and technology adoption.
This paper provides a comprehensive bibliometric and thematic synthesis focused on Malaysian construction OSH research, offering a structured understanding of its evolution, fragmentation and emerging priorities.
