Ministry of Manpower, Workplace Safety and Health Council, Industry Associations and NTUC Make Joint Call for Safety Time-Out at Workplaces
Good overall progress in improving Workplace Safety and Health, but worrying spate of recent accidents
1. Singapore has made good progress in making our workplaces safer over the years. Our workplace fatality rate has more than halved from 2.3 per 100,000 workers in 2011 to 1.1 in 2021. This is close to world-class standards, with only four OECD countries achieving a fatality rate of less than 1.0 per 100,000 workers.
2. However, there has been a recent worrying spate of workplace fatalities across various industries, with 10 in April 2022 alone. This brings the total number of workplace fatalities in 20221 to 20, higher than the number of fatalities for the same period since 2016. As such, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council2, National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and industry partners have called on companies to conduct a Safety Time-Out (STO) from 9 May 2022. (please see para 6 for details of what an STO involves).
Many cases could have been prevented with basic safety and health measures
3. Of the 20 fatal cases in 2022 so far, it is very concerning that seven of them were similar in nature to cases that occurred in 2021: three cases involved forklifts, two involved falls from ladders, two involved falls through fragile surfaces. Preliminary investigations revealed that a common factor among these fatalities was that basic safety and health control measures – such as wearing of seat belts in forklifts, or fall protection gear while working at heights – were either inadequate or not in place at all. Lives would have been saved if these well-established control measures were taken.
WSH Council has partnered with industry associations and NTUC to rally companies to conduct a Safety Time-Out
4. To address this spate of fatalities, we strongly urge companies to:
i. Ensure they have effective WSH management systems, including reviewing their risk assessments, ensuring that all their workers implement risk control measures, and have WSH training relevant to their roles.
ii. Make use of WSH Council’s WSH Alerts3, which contain learning points from recent fatal accidents, to sensitise all their workers to potentially hazardous situations, and on how to avoid a repeat of similar fatal cases.
5. To this end, the WSH Council has partnered with the NTUC and various industry and trade associations to generate mass awareness on the need for companies to review their WSH management systems, and learn from past accidents, via what is known as a STO from 9 May 2022. This is expected to last for two weeks.
6. STOs typically involve taking a pause in work for senior management to engage workers and unions in reinforcing WSH processes, and to act on any issues raised. This STO also urges senior management to ensure that learning points from past accidents are shared with all workers. Doing so enables all parties to be aligned in their goals towards achieving better WSH practices. This STO will have two main focus areas: Working Safely at Heights, such as working safely on fragile surfaces and safe use of ladders, and Safe Use of Equipment, such as forklifts. More information on STOs and the list of participating associations are in the Annex.
7. In addition, the WSH Council will be organising an online STO Forum, which will be broadcast on the WSH Council’s Facebook page in end-May. It will feature a sharing on the recent cases and learning points, as well as presentations by industry experts from various industries who will focus on topics such as safe use of forklifts, safe use of ladders, working around fragile surfaces, and safe boarding of vessels.
8. WSH Council Chairman Mr John Ng, said: “It is alarming and unfortunate that a number of this year’s fatal cases involved basic safety lapses. Furthermore, some of these accidents are similar to those that happened in 2021. This is why I strongly urge all companies to answer this STO call to review your processes, communicate with your workers, and implement necessary control measures to uphold good WSH standards, particularly in preventing falls from height, working around fragile surfaces, and the safe use of machinery such as forklifts.”
9. Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health and Divisional Director of MOM’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, Mr Silas Sng, said: “Performing work activities that are routine and repetitive does not guarantee that accidents will not happen. We need all employers and employees to take WSH seriously and personally, and to implement the WSH measures before an accident occurs in your workplace.”
10. The last time the WSH Council called for a nation-wide STO was on 25 June 2021, which lasted two weeks. For more information on what companies can do to conduct an STO, please visit www.wshc.sg/resources.
ANNEX
FACTSHEET ON SAFETY TIME-OUT
About Safety Time-Out
1. Safety Time Out (STO) is a planned event whereby companies take time off from their daily work routine to take stock of and review workplace safety and health (WSH) systems and work processes, and thereafter implement measures to control risk. STO can be coordinated nation-wide or at sector specific in response to an emerging trend or a spate of accidents.
2. In a typical STO, the STO team will review site practices and risk assessments by:
a) Method - Assessing whether current WSH systems and procedures are in place or require improvements.
b) Machine - Assessing the physical equipment or machineries are fit for the job.
c) Man - Assessing the personnel competency for the job or whether refresher training is required.
d) Action - Taking proactive measures to address the lapses identified so as to prevent accidents and losses.
3. Following the STO, employees should be briefed on the findings and any
improvements that would be implemented.
4. For the 9 May STO, MOM, WSH Council, NTUC and industry associations have jointly encouraged member companies and unions to also enact the following specific measures:
For top management:
• Do a walk-about on site to encourage workers to report safety risks and near misses to their supervisors. Ask workers to surface their safety concerns, if any, and reassure them that they will not be penalised for doing so. Emphasise to the supervisors and site/project managers that they are responsible to resolve these risks.
• Share learning points form recent fatal accidents from the WSH Alerts with all workers, to avoid a repeat of such cases in your own company.
• Share resource kits on ladder accidents to make workers aware of high-risk activities that have led to a number of workplace deaths recently.
For WSH personnel:
• Assign mentors to new workers, as those with less than three years or working experience in Singapore tend to be more accident-prone than their more experienced peers; guide them closely especially in doing high-risk activities.
• Identify any new risks that were not factored into the Risk Assessment, and devise control measures to mitigate these risks.
• Ensure that the control measures in the company’s Risk Assessment are being implemented.
• Hold workshops or meetings with employees to recap basic site safety, and how employees can play a part in upholding good WSH standards.
List of Participating Industry Associations for 9 May STO
1. Association of Process Industry
2. Association of Property and Facility Managers
3. Association of Singapore Marine Industries
4. Singapore Contractors Association Limited
5. Singapore International Facility Management Association
6. Singapore Logistics Association
7. Singapore Manufacturing Federation