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MOM Charges Individuals for Fraudulent Acts Under WSHA

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has brought charges against two individuals under Section 53 of the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act today, for engaging in fraudulent activities under the employment of WSH training provider, Active Synergy Training and Consultancy Pte Ltd (Active Synergy).

2. Details of the individuals and the charges against them are as follows:

 No  Name of Individual    Charge 
 1 Shivasanker S,
Director of Active Synergy		 For consenting to his company’s forgery of the certificates under section 53(a) read with section 48(1) of the WSHA
 2 Mohanarajan s/o Selvarajan,
Active Synergy Training Manager		 For intentionally aiding the company’s forgery of the certificates under section 53(b) read with section 109 of the Penal Code

3. Under Section 53 of the WSH Act, those found guilty of making false entries and false declarations, or are involved in the forgery of certificates, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both. 

About the case

4. MOM was first alerted to possible fraudulent activities by ASTC in Jul 2019. ASTC withdrew their status as a training provider and ceased operation in Nov 2019, about four months after MOM were first alerted. Following investigations, Active Synergy is alleged to have conducted WSH courses1 that were of significantly shorter duration, some courses were nearly 80% shorter than the curriculum training hours stipulated by MOM, and subsequently issued the forged certificates.

MOM’s actions

5. MOM takes a serious view of such fraudulent practices which can have an adverse impact on workplace safety and health. Proper training and certification are mandatory for workers so that they can perform their work in a safe manner.

6. MOM’s investigation revealed that most of the affected workers had not been deployed by their employers to perform the work that was covered by the certifications. Notwithstanding this, all the affected workers and their employers will be informed that WSH certificates issued by Active Synergy from 1 Jan 2018 to 27 Nov 2019 are not recognised; affected workers should not be deployed to perform work or roles covered by the affected certifications until they have completed the relevant training with a training provider that is recognised by the Commissioner for WSH.

7. Affected employers whose workers had obtained “Higher Skilled” R1 status under the Multi-Skilling Scheme2, and were accorded a lower foreign worker levy, will be informed of the revised (higher) levy rates via their October 2023 levy bill. In addition, as levies should have been charged based on the workers’ actual skills status and employers should have paid the same higher levy like other employers with lower skilled workers, affected employers will be notified in April 2024 of the amount of past levies to be recovered.

FOOTNOTE

  1. Courses included Managing Work at Heights Courses, Metal Scaffold Erection Courses, Supervision of Metal Scaffold Erection Courses, Formwork Safety Courses for Supervisors, and Work at Heights Courses for Workers
  2. The Multi-Skilling Scheme is administered by the Building and Construction Authority, and workers can upgrade to be “Higher Skilled” R1 status from “Basic Skilled” R2 status if they have six years’ local experience, and either attended 120 cumulative hours of training in approved safety courses from a list of training providers or obtained the WSQ Advanced Certificate in WSH.