Minister of State Sam Tan leads industry delegation to Germany and the UK to study workplace safety and health practices

19 May 2016

Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Mr Sam Tan will be leading an 18-member delegation comprising representatives from MOM, Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council and the Construction industry associations and companies¹ to Germany and the United Kingdom (UK) from 21-28 May 2016.

As part of the Government and industry efforts to improve WSH performance in the sector, the delegation will be visiting key institutions and organisations in Germany and the UK to understand how each country advocates WSH and uphold good standards. Both countries have attained good WSH outcomes².

In Germany, the delegation will be visiting the BG Bau, the German Social Accident Insurance Institution³ for the building trade in Germany, to learn how they instil a culture of prevention and a Vision Zero mindset. They will also be visiting a training centre for construction workers to observe how training and competency building is done in Germany.

In the UK, the delegation will engage the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)⁴ on the implementation of their Construction (Design & Management) Regulations and programmes to improve safety in the Construction sector. The delegation will visit various construction worksites to understand how WSH is managed on the ground.

FOOTNOTE

Refer to Annex A for the list of companies and associations.
According to a Health and Safety Executive report, in 2012, the fatal injury rate in the UK is 0.58 per 100,000 workers and 0.9 per 100,000 workers in Germany.
BG Bau or Berufsgenossenschaft der Bauwirtschaft (German Social Accident Insurance Institution for the Construction Industry) is an institution for statutory accident insurance and prevention in the construction industry. The BGs are responsible for the businesses in the industrial sector, with millions of insured employees.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety and illness. It acts in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.