Founder & Principal
40 Years of Specialist CDM Governance Authority
OHI&A was founded on a single conviction: that defensible CDM governance requires deep specialist knowledge, not generalist compliance checklists.
Founder & Principal
Haji Othman Ismail
Founder & Principal — OHI&A CDM Advisors
Haji Othman Ismail brings more than 40 years of specialist experience across occupational safety and health, QHSE management, Construction Design and Management governance, operational risk, training and development, maritime and cargo surveying, management systems, and project governance.
His career spans the full spectrum of construction and industrial safety — from site-level OSH practice through to executive-level governance advisory. He has worked across sectors including commercial and residential development, infrastructure, industrial facilities, maritime operations, and data-centre projects.
With the introduction of Malaysia's CDM Regulations 2024, Haji Othman identified a critical gap in the market: duty-holders were being appointed without the structured governance frameworks, evidence documentation, and SKET-OC assessment processes that the Regulations demand. OHI&A was established to fill that gap.
He developed the CDM Compliance Playbook™ 5•10•14 — a proprietary methodology providing a structured, evidence-led approach to CDM compliance across 5 phases, 10 checkpoints and 14 core documents. This framework is the foundation of every OHI&A engagement.
Expertise
Areas of Specialist Expertise
Occupational Safety & Health (OSH)
40+ years of OSH practice across construction, industrial and maritime sectors
QHSE Management Systems
Design, implementation and audit of integrated QHSE management systems
CDM Governance
Specialist CDM governance advisory under Malaysia's CDM Regulations 2024
Design Risk Management
Facilitation of PCI, CDRA, DDRA, PCDRA and residual risk management workshops
Operational Risk
Operational risk assessment, management and governance frameworks
Training & Development
CDM training programmes, workshops, coaching and mentoring for duty-holders
Maritime & Cargo Surveying
Marine surveying, cargo inspection and maritime safety operations
Management Systems
ISO-aligned management system design, implementation and certification support
The Firm
About OHI&A
Othman Haji Ismail & Associates PLT
CDM Governance. Design Risk. Duty-Holder Assurance.
OHI&A — Othman Haji Ismail & Associates PLT — was established in direct response to the introduction of Malaysia's CDM Regulations 2024. The Regulations created new, structured obligations for Clients, PCWDs, PCWCs, designers and contractors — obligations that require specialist knowledge to interpret, implement and evidence correctly.
Our mission is to ensure that every duty-holder we work with can demonstrate defensible CDM compliance — not merely procedural compliance, but substantive, evidenced governance that would withstand regulatory scrutiny.
How We Work
Our Approach
OHI&A operates on the principle that CDM governance must be defensible. Every appointment, every design risk assessment, every document in the compliance record must be capable of withstanding scrutiny — by the regulator, by the courts, and by the duty-holder's own board.
We apply the SKET-OC framework rigorously: no duty-holder is conditionally appointed until their Suitability, Competence, Knowledge, Experience, Training, Organisation and Capability have been demonstrably assessed. This is not a formality — it is the foundation of defensible governance.
Our proprietary CDM Compliance Playbook™ 5•10•14 provides the structured methodology that underpins every engagement — ensuring consistency, completeness and a clear audit trail from project inception through Safety and Health File handover.
What We Stand For
Our Values
Defensibility
Every governance position OHI&A takes is capable of being evidenced and defended. We do not advise on the basis of opinion — we advise on the basis of documented, structured assessment.
Precision
CDM governance demands precision. We apply structured methodologies, clear documentation standards and rigorous checkpoint processes to every engagement.
Accountability
Duty-holders must be accountable. OHI&A helps clients establish the governance structures that make accountability clear, documented and enforceable.
Independence
As an independent specialist advisory, OHI&A provides objective governance assurance — free from the conflicts of interest that can arise when CDM advisory is bundled with design or construction services.
Discuss a project with Haji Othman
All engagements begin with a confidential project discussion. Meetings are by appointment.