Our staff Engagement Strategy

Employees who feel engaged bring greater value to our organisation. That is why staff engagement is essential. Engaged employees feel a profound connection to organisational goals and are willing to go the extra mile. They feel empowered and are more likely to collaborate and champion actions towards improving WSH.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Building strong governance within the division is imperative to the success of achieving our corporate goals. We adopted a holistic approach in working very closely with our Internal Audit Team to provide independent assurance in addressing risk and internal controls and its operational efficiency.

The collaborative effort in working with the Internal Audit Team has collectively helped OSHD to stay vigilant and prudent in our work processes and ensuring that our financial policies and procedures adhere to the accountability and judicious use of public funds. In addition, the team also undertakes good planning and timely budget utilisation in the division, while providing advice that will help in adhering to proper procurement procedures such as transparency and prudence.

ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

With the swift pace of change and complex challenges we face in today’s world, OSHD too must change and adapt in order to achieve our strategic goal. We need forward-looking and innovative employees aligned to OSHD’s mission and vision to propel us to the next stage of our WSH journey. Hence, the Organisational Development Unit (”ODU”) came into being and has merged with the Strategic Planning Unit to meet these challenges. The role of ODU requires the team to put on lenses that can see beyond the happiness index and plan events purposefully to bring about staff alignment to our strategic goals whilst at the same time ensuring that our employees are engaged and energised.

It is an inclusive approach in charting OSHD’s journey through promoting employee engagement and involvement in the change process. Our focus has to be deliberate and intensive to create a culture that embraces our values and ultimately improves our staff engagement and experience at work.

LOCOMOSHION

One such divisional wide event for departments to come together and meet regularly to bond and recognise each department’s contributions is our LocomOSHion. This has over the years emerged as a key platform to forge friendships, bond senior management with staff and recognise staff’s accomplishments. Some of the activities during LocomOSHion include Amazing Race-like contests, a dinner and dance, and Art Jam.

In 2015, we celebrated our 10th year anniversary at the Resorts World Sentosa. Our Anniversary holds a special meaning to us as it was also Singapore’s Jubilee Year! We were a sea of blue that day, clad in a specially designed jersey-styled tee with the numerical “10”, signifying our 10 years of excellence! What followed was a sentimental and joyous day as we viewed a video montage of past memories, competed in an interactive SG50 Trivia game and participated in the teambuilding SG50 Heritage trail at the SEA Aquarium. The anniversary ended on a high note with the unveiling of the OSH10 Memento, a large jigsaw puzzle with each puzzle representing a key milestone in OSHD’s WSH journey.

OSHD MANAGEMENT RETREAT

A 2-day brainstorming session was organised on 30 September and 1 October 2015 for OSHD’s management and our strategic partners from other MOM departments to brainstorm and actively contribute in the review of our current National Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Strategy, and to also re-chart our directions beyond WSH 2018. The objective was to develop the new WSH National Strategy that will drive our WSH performance to greater heights in the next 10 years.

The day started with participants articulating their Picture of Success through skits where they portrayed the desired future. Salient points were taken, which facilitated deeper discussions in the later part of the day. The group participated intensely during the session to thoroughly review the mindset, key WSH principles, strategic outcomes as well as the strategies to achieve goals.

Prior feedback from OSHD staff via the Art Jam (using paintings to depict the desired Vision & Mission), survey questionnaire and workshops were also taken into consideration in the formulation of the new strategy.

To foster greater cooperation, the review session wrapped up on a high note with the management letting their hair down in the team-building activity “Combat Skirmish”. They took on the challenges set forth in three missions assigned to them.

DOSH HEART2HEART

What started this initiative was our move to Bendemeer. DOSH was concerned about staff’s reaction to the change in office location and made a determined effort to reach out to staff and manage the change effectively. Through the sessions, he listened to their concerns and sought to assist staff to assimilate and adapt to the new office. It was a huge success and requests were made for a permanent platform for conversational exchanges with DOSH. These conversations have allowed DOSH to know what is important to staff and gave him an opportunity to discuss ideas, thus providing staff an avenue to contribute to the organisation. This has also resulted in greater understanding and connection between senior management and staff.

PIONEER GENERATION AMBASSADOR (PGA)

The Community and Environment Outreach Committee (CEOC) was set up in 2003 to create volunteering and donating opportunities for officers. One of the CEOC-supported activities is partnering with the Pioneer Generation Office (PGO) to support the national outreach efforts that share the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) with our pioneers.

Ms Anne Go Cheng Cheng, Senior Assistant Director (PICS) spoke about her experience as a PGA:

Majority of the PGs like my grandmother and my mother-in-law did not have the luxury to attend school. They struggled to make ends meet to feed their families when Singapore was still a developing country. To thank our PGs for their contribution to Singapore’s early days, the Pioneer Generation Package (PGP) benefits are developed specially for them. To ensure that PGs understand the benefits, engagements through personalised, face-to-face interaction were conducted.

House visits are not as easy as they seem. It is not just “hard” work in terms of walking the ground, distributing pamphlets and striking casual conversations, but it is also “heart” work that requires empathy, patience and passion as not every PG welcomes a house visit. In my count of house visits, to this day, I am only able to engage 10% to 15% of PGs successfully in a day. However, I still found it to be a rewarding experience because with the time invested, it did make a direct difference in the lives of many PGs. Being a PGA, I am able to express my appreciation to the PGs for their contribution to the nation, which gave us the comfortable and secured life we have today.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Over the years, Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) has become a part of the business strategy of many organisations, including OSHD. Individual departments began to come up with initiatives that reach out and contribute to those in need. Some days in the year are allocated for staff to get involved with a charitable organisation of their choice or a CSR activity they could relate to.

WORK LIFE HARMONY

At both Ministry and division level, we have put in place strategies and programmes that allow our staff to work efficiently, while meeting other aspects of their personal lives, such as flexi work schedules, working from home and leave benefits, just to name a few. Some recent enhancements are two additional days of parental leave, childcare benefits, and time given off work for involvement in community services and health and wellness programmes. Proactively supporting a work-life friendly environment has resulted in a more engaged and productive workforce as well as retaining talents.

As part of OSHD’s strategy for a healthy workplace, regular exercise, good nutrition and positive mental attitude are constantly encouraged. To achieve this, a myriad of activities were made accessible and available to staff such as badminton, soccer, yoga, piloxing, pilates and runs. Tournaments among departments are also the norm in OSHD. In addition, we have also conducted talks on nutrition and healthy eating. Subject experts on conflict management, time management and stress management were also invited to empower our staff to handle situations effectively and be more resilient.

TRAINING

As we aim to continuously sharpen our capabilities within OSHD, the Organisational Development Unit (ODU) has successfully rolled out a series of new training programmes this year. Under our competency framework, we will continue to equip our staff with OSHD/MOM Core Competencies (Basic Tier) and Technical/Functional Competencies (Intermediate Tier) as well as introduced a new paradigm on developing Cross Divisional Enforcement Competencies under the Advanced Tier.

To date, more than thirteen customised workshops focusing on Technical and Functional Competencies like the Fire Safety and Investigation offered by Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF), International Powered Access Federation’s (IPAF) Mobile Elevated Workplace Platform, Systems Thinking, Professional Mastery for Organisational Alignment and many others were organised.

In addition, our baseline training, known as the OSHD Core Induction Programme (CIP), was also restructured. It is a 2-day induction programme unique to OSHD, which aims to give new staff a comprehensive overview and appreciation of the various roles and work across OSHD. The programme is a recipe of cosy lecture-style presentations, interactive group discussions as well as experiential teambuilding.

ODU seeks to foster and enhance the learning culture within the workplace. In the next FY, several new learning initiatives will be introduced. An augural Learning Day is underway where staff are given the chance to select their desired track from a vast of speakers, focusing on soft and personal development skills. ODU will also be collaborating with various departments to review our existing programmes, to bring them to a whole new level.

MOM WORK PLAN SEMINAR 2015

To showcase the Division’s work, we presented our strategic priorities for FY15 through (i) an infographic piece; (ii) an exhibition booth and; (iii) a video presentation.

1. The team adopted the idea of using a city map infographic to depict how our work inter-connects with the community, as well as to show how our work impacts employees from all walks of life.
2. The infographic was displayed at OSHD’s booth to share our work for FY15 with MOMers. We also took the opportunity to explain one of our key highlights relating to systems and technology – the OSHD Drone. A live demo was also conducted towards the end of the day to showcase the Drone’s flight and surveillance capabilities to the Minister and MOM’s Senior Management.
3. The video is an interactive version of the city map infographic where further elaboration of the various strategies and initiatives were shared, to provide all with a better understanding of the diverse work that our officers are involved in.

Through these efforts, OSHD was awarded the 2nd best department booth by MOM Senior Management and was also voted by the rest of the MOMers as the 3rd most popular infographic.

QUARTERLY MINISTER REPORT

The Quarterly Minister Report highlights the key enforcement and engagement efforts undertaken by the Division as well as plans for the upcoming quarter with targeted actions on key areas of concern. The one page infographic summary provides the reader an overview of the fatal and injury trends, insights on dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases, breakdown of the work injury compensation payout as well as an update on the latest enforcement numbers and areas of focus. It also provides an overview of the recent key events and initiatives, and shares with the reader on the upcoming events and initiatives for the various sectors. This infographic summary is also shared with MOMers via the intranet homepage and printed copies that are placed at lift lobbies. Being the lighthouse of the Division, the unit will continue to align the various department efforts and constantly be vigilant of the opportunities and threats, as we continue to evolve with the changing work environment and landscape.