A question I hear from HR and HSE managers, usually phrased as a worry: "We follow ISO 45003 at group level — does that cover us for PRisMA?" The short answer is no. The longer answer is more useful, because the two frameworks are not competitors. One is the thinking; the other is the Malaysian implementation of it.
Two documents, two jobs
ISO 45003:2021 is the international guidance standard for psychological health and safety at work: the document that tells organisations how to manage psychosocial risk within an OHS management system. It is principles-based and deliberately instrument-agnostic: it describes what good management of psychosocial risk looks like, but hands you no questionnaire and no cut-off table.
PRisMA 2024 is Malaysia's answer to the "how, exactly?" question. Published by DOSH, it operationalises the ISO 45003 approach for Malaysian workplaces with specific, validated instruments: the LEO26 screening tool, the EPC23 employer checklist, and the PRiMA action-plan table, run by a trained person on a defined eleven-step process, with set reassessment intervals. The guideline itself states that LEO26 was developed in alignment with ISO 45003:2021.
| PRisMA 2024 | ISO 45003:2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Malaysian DOSH guideline with defined instruments | International guidance standard for managing psychosocial risk |
| Issued by | DOSH / JKKP Malaysia (2024) | International Organization for Standardization (2021) |
| Weight in Malaysia | The recognised framework for the OSHA 2022 duty | Voluntary; signals good practice to group HQ, auditors, ESG reviewers |
| Tools | LEO26, EPC23, PRiMA — published, validated, scored | Principles and clauses; no prescribed instrument |
| Who runs it | A trained Psychosocial Trained Person (PTP) | No defined role; typically the OHS management system owner |
| Output | Risk status per work unit + action plan + reassessment cycle | A management-system approach within ISO 45001 |
The compliance question, answered plainly
Under the Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022, Malaysian employers have a statutory duty covering employees' mental health and wellbeing, and PRisMA 2024 is the framework DOSH has published for meeting it. An ISO 45003-aligned group policy, however sincere, does not produce LEO26 work-unit risk statuses, does not involve a PTP, and will not look like compliance when DOSH asks what assessment you conducted.
The reverse is also true, and multinationals should note it. A PRisMA report satisfies the Malaysian regulator but is not, by itself, an ISO 45003-conformant management system. If your group reports against ISO frameworks, PRisMA slots in as the local risk-assessment mechanism within that bigger structure. ISO 45001 certification does not automatically cover psychosocial risk either — that gap is precisely why ISO 45003 was written.
Rule of thumb: PRisMA is what you do for DOSH. ISO 45003 is how you frame it for headquarters. A Malaysian site of a multinational usually needs both, and they share the same underlying work.
Doing both without doing the work twice
The efficient sequence starts with PRisMA, because its outputs are concrete: work-unit risk statuses, an EPC23 gap review, a prioritised action plan. Those artefacts then become the evidence base for the ISO 45003 clauses on hazard identification, risk assessment and planning. I deliver this as a pair: the PRisMA 2024 assessment for the regulatory layer, and an ISO 45003 workshop for the management-system layer, so the same data serves both masters.
Further reading & sources
On this site: PRisMA 2024 assessment service · ISO 45003 workshops · LEO26, explained · What is a PTP?
External: DOSH Malaysia · ISO 45003:2021
Need the regulatory layer and the management-system layer handled together?
Start With a PRisMA Assessment →Dr. Kirath Sidhu (Dr. Harkirath Singh Harbans Singh) is a registered Occupational Health Doctor, certified Psychosocial Trained Person (DOSH PTP-291/26) and ISO 45003-certified practitioner. He provides PRisMA 2024 assessments and ISO 45003 workshops for employers across Penang and Malaysia through ASP Medical Group.