How a UK and Malaysian university partnership is helping design safer construction

Ahead of the THE Awards on 26 November, our Partners have been speaking with those shortlisted for the AQ-sponsored awards, hearing the stories behind their submissions and learning more about the people, ideas and achievements making a real difference across higher education. It’s been a great opportunity to hear directly about their work and share the impact they’re having across the sector.

In this interview, Elliott Rae spoke to Che Khairil Izam Che Ibrahim, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), and Patrick Manu, Professor and Co-Director of CABER at The University of the West of England, about their shortlisted submission for International Collaboration of the Year.

A decision made at a drawing board can change the risks someone faces on a building site months later. Specify components that can be assembled off-site and mechanically lifted into place, for example, so fewer people need to spend hours working at height. Safety begins before construction starts.

That principle drives a collaboration led by the University of the West of England (UWE) and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Together with academic, industry and regulatory partners, they are helping Malaysia make safer design part of everyday construction practice.

The project is shortlisted for International Collaboration of the Year at the Times Higher Education Awards, a category sponsored by Anderson Quigley. Its purpose has very human consequences: construction accounts for a substantial share of workplace deaths in Malaysia, and better design decisions have the potential to protect those who build and maintain its infrastructure.

For Patrick Manu at UWE and Khairil Izam Ibrahim at UiTM, the approach is straightforward. Architects and engineers should anticipate how their choices might expose workers to harm, remove hazards wherever possible and help contractors understand any risks that remain. This is known as design for occupational safety and health (DfOSH).

Their partnership began in 2020, when Ibrahim contacted Manu about collaborating on an academic paper. That initial exchange led to research funding and an enduring relationship. Manu was then at the University of Manchester; when he moved to UWE in 2023, the collaboration continued.

Each university contributes complementary strengths. UWE brings Manu’s extensive research into safer design and experience of working with UK industry and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). UiTM brings close knowledge of Malaysian construction and established relationships with the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH), including work on guidance, training and professional competence dating back to 2017.

Those connections became especially valuable as Malaysia introduced mandatory DfOSH requirements in 2024. The industry needed support to understand its responsibilities and develop the skills to meet them. The UK’s longer experience offered useful lessons about both successful approaches and the challenges of implementation.

One challenge, Ibrahim explains, is changing assumptions about who owns safety. Traditionally, responsibility has often been associated with contractors on site. Involving architects and engineers earlier requires practical support and close engagement with professional bodies.

UWE and UiTM help connect international experience with local needs. Lessons learnt are informing the development of tools suited to Malaysian practice, while exchanges with the HSE help to enhance DOSH’s capability and consider how research can support implementation.

The work is already influencing guidance and education. According to Ibrahim, DOSH is drawing on the research to inform revisions to its guidance and code of practice. A framework developed by the team sets out how universities, regulators and industry can work together to strengthen education and professional development.

Meanwhile, academics from UWE, the University of Manchester and UCL deliver guest lectures to UiTM students. For those already working in construction, this creates a direct link between international research and professional practice.

The collaboration has also helped secure a further funded project involving the UK, Malaysia and Indonesia. Future ambitions include exploring how artificial intelligence and digital building models could support safer design. Its eventual effect on accident rates will take time to establish; the early progress lies in developing the knowledge and capability that safer construction needs.

Behind that progress are relationships built over years. Manu highlights “mutual respect” and “mutual understanding”, qualities that matter when joining an overseas workshop can mean waking at two in the morning. Visits have helped colleagues know one another personally as well as professionally, while close involvement from industry and regulators keeps the research connected to practice.

Manu is clear that joint teaching will continue regardless of future funding. What began with an email about a paper has become a lasting partnership with a shared ambition: helping the people who build our surroundings do their jobs more safely.

We’re looking forward to celebrating the achievements and successes of higher education institutions across all the awards next month, and recognising the fantastic work taking place across the sector. To see the full shortlist of the THE Awards, visit their website at https://the-awards.co.uk/2026/en/page/shortlist.