ENHANCING SAFETY AT WORKPLACES

ENHANCING SAFETY AT WORKPLACES: 7.

Mdm Halimah Yacob asked the Minister for Manpower (a) what more can be done to enhance safety at workplaces in view of the recent spate of workplace accidents; (b) whether the system of contracting and subcontracting which is widely practised in some industries has aggravated the problem; and (c) how effective is the whistle blowing mechanism in helping workers to raise the alarm on dangerous situations.

The Minister for Manpower (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Sir, since the launch of the new Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) framework in 2005, we have made progressive improvements in our WSH standards. But the spate of accidents we saw last year shows that there is still more to be done to ingrain its strong safety culture and improve safety and health standards at the workplace. For the first time since the launch of the new framework, we saw an increase in the workplace fatality rate. The workplace fatality rate was 2.9 per 100,000 workers last year, compared to the rate of 2.8 recorded in 2008.

Work at heights and crane lifting operations accounted for close to half (about 46%) of the 70 workplace fatalities last year. Apart from ongoing initiatives such as the Programme-based Engagement (ProBE) and regular dedicated WSH Forums, MOM and the WSH Council established the National Crane Safety Taskforce and the National Work-at-Height Taskforce last year to look deeper into better managing safety in these areas. Both taskforces are led by key industry leaders and comprise members from the relevant stakeholder groups, such as the industry and professional

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associations, suppliers and training partners.

The National Crane Safety Taskforce announced some preliminary plans in September last year on enhancing training, extending outreach and the publication of technical guides. Last month, the National Work-at-Height Taskforce announced its recommendations, one of which is to implement Fall Protection Plans at all workplaces that require work at heights. MOM has also tightened up our enforcement efforts. Recently, the Ministry conducted an island-wide blitz named "Operation Sky Hawk" which focused on fall-from-height risks at smaller construction worksites. Six stop work orders and 179 fines and warnings were issued to 29 worksites during the blitz. At a broader level, MOM and the WSH Council are also developing sectoral plans for the construction and marine sectors to further enhance WSH management in these two sectors. The two sectors accounted for almost two-thirds (63%) of fatalities seen last year.

We agree with Mdm Halimah that the system of contracting and subcontracting work, if poorly managed, poses a challenge to the proper management of safety and health at the workplace. Accidents can happen should contractors fail to exercise sufficient oversight to ensure that their sub-contractors comply with the safety rules and take adequate safety measures, or if various contractors at a worksite fail to coordinate their work properly. Where previously the Factories Act placed the burden on the occupier to manage WSH at the worksite, the WSH Act places obligations on stakeholders ranging from the occupier to principals and employees to ensure safety at work. Contractors and sub-contractors who fail to take adequate safety measures or fail to comply with the safety rules set by the main contractor will be held liable under the Act. Since the enactment of the WSH Act in 2006, we have prosecuted about

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38 sub-contractors for failing to take adequate safety measures at work. In 17 of these cases, we also took the occupier to task for safety lapses.

Selecting the right contractors to work with is an important aspect of ensuring proper contractor management and co-ordination. The bizSAFE scheme, introduced in 2007 to help companies raise risk management capabilities, and also be used by contractors to select sub-contractors with proven capability to manage risk. Moving ahead, the WSH Council’s Construction and Marine Committees – sectors where the system of contracting and subcontracting is especially common – will step up engagement efforts with stakeholders in the two sectors, including the sub-contractors, to build stronger ownership of WSH issues and outcomes.

Mdm Halimah also asked whether the current whistle-blowing mechanism on safety issues has been effective. MOM receives valuable safety feedback provided by workers and members of the public through various touch points such as our hotlines. These touch points are widely publicised through worker collaterals, bus advertisements, at project information boards and banners at worksites. To further reinforce awareness of safety issues and workers’ rights, the WSH Council also conducts regular outreach programmes such as dormitory visits and roadshows. On average, the Ministry receives some 60 safety-related tip-offs a month, approximately 25% of which come from workers. Under the WSH Act, workers are protected from dismissal by the employers when they raise legitimate safety concerns to MOM.

To bring about sustained improvements in our WSH outcomes, we need to go beyond awareness and capability building. We need to change mindsets and

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build a safety culture in which every stakeholder – from the CEO to the worker on the ground, sees WSH as his personal responsibility. It is for this reason that under our new national blueprint for WSH – WSH 2018 – we are placing greater focus on developing a progressive and pervasive safety culture. We want to nurture a culture where individuals recognise their responsibility in protecting not only their own health and safety, but that of others working with them. Ultimately, we want safety and health to become a way of life such that every worker naturally and routinely thinks about safety as they go about their work.

Mdm Halimah Yacob: I thank the Minister for the clarification. I have three follow-up questions which I would like to ask the Minister. First, to what extent is the large pool of foreign workers found in some sectors, particularly in sectors with a higher rate of accidents, a contributing factor for these accidents? My second question is this. There is a tendency for the smaller companies, because of a lack of capacity, resources or cost, to have a higher rate of accidents. What additional programmes will be put in place to assist them? Third question: although the WSH Act is only four years old, does it indicate that there are some gaps in the Act that need further fine tuning.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Sir, I would like to point out that we have to be careful in interpreting statistics. The fact is that many of the foreign workers are in sectors that naturally has higher risk, like marine and construction sectors. But on the other hand, the MOM has put a lot of emphasis on worker education, particularly for foreign workers. I mentioned earlier in my reply, that we conduct dormitory visits to the foreign workers, we educate and train them. We also provide brochures and even videos in their native languages, so they could understand what safety is about. We also ensure that employers and contractors work with us, to help train

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and keep these workers up to date on safety issues. Whenever there is a safety incident, we will send circulars to our employers and sometimes to the workers, to the dormitories as well, to remind them and share with them some of the experiences that we have and, hopefully, we will help them to improve their safety outcome.

With regard to smaller companies, in fact resource constraint is one issue, but that is no excuse for loss of lives. I think Members would all agree. Therefore, the Ministry has been working with many of the industry associations to reach out to the smaller companies to provide them with resources and support to help them improve their safety outcome. In fact we have also been working with the main contractors, which tend to be larger companies, working with them to reach out to their own sub-contractors. They understand that the safety outcome of their sub-contractors would affect their work and performance as well. If an accident happens at the worksite and stop work order has to be issued, it is not only the sub-contractor that will suffer, the main contractor will also have to suffer losses as a result of lost time. So I think many of the large contractors are aware. Shipyards, for example, we have been working with them very closely to reach out to their sub-contractors and these large contractors are performing like a mentor to train and help the smaller contractors to achieve desirable WSH outcome. I think we are working in that direction.

With regard to the WSH Act, we also have to bear in mind that the Act alone, will not help us to achieve the desired outcome of WSH. The Act provides the framework and guidance to companies and workers on their respective responsibilities and to hold errant parties accountable for their actions. But ultimately, if you want to achieve the desired WSH standards, 1.8 fatality per

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100,000 by 2018, that is the target that we have set. For us to achieve that, we need everybody to be involved. The Government will come out with rules, regulations, the industry associations and the Council will come out with guidelines and advisory, but it also takes every employer on the ground to do their part, and that is what we are trying to do through our WSH 2018 blueprint, to inculcate this culture of safety among all our workers and employers from managers all the way down to supervisors, workers down the line. So I think for all of them, we want to instil this culture of safety, so that whatever they do, wherever they go, they always think about safety. So that they can go to work happily and go home safety. As there is a Chinese saying " gao gao xing xing shang ban, ping ping an an hui jia " （高高兴兴上班，平平安安回家), means you go to work happily and, hopefully, our objective is to ensure that, at the end of the day, he can go home safely. I think that is the final objective of WSH Act.