INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS

Mr Liew Kok Pun asked the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour (a) how many accidents have occurred in the various industries in Singapore over the past five years; (b) what measures the Ministry of Labour has taken to reduce these accidents; and (c) whether he is satisfied that the Ministry is doing enough to ensure that the lives of workers are not unnecessarily put in danger.

Dr Wong Kwei Cheong (for the Minister for Communications and Minister for Labour): Mr Speaker, Sir, there were a total of 4,575 accidents reported to the Factory Inspectorate in 1977 as compared with 4,554 in 1978, 5,277 in 1979, 6,087 in 1980 and 6,046 in 1981. Although the number of accidents has increased over the years, the industrial safety situation has not deteriorated. The increasing number of accidents has to be interpreted in the light of the increasing number of workers employed in industry and the resultant increased exposure to risk in terms of man-hours worked. To give proper weight to these factors, the accident severity and frequency rates have to be calculated to establish if the industrial accident situation has improved or deteriorated. The accident severity rates in 1977 was 501 mandays lost per million man-hours worked compared with 504 man-days lost per million man-hours worked in 1981. The accident frequency rates for the five years from 1977 to 1981 were kept within the limits of 5.0 and 6.5 accidents per million man-hours worked. Hence, in these terms, it can be said that the industrial accident situation has not deteriorated.

My Ministry has taken various measures to improve the industrial accident situation. These measures are as follows:-

(a) Safety standards

One measure is to set safety standards to be observed in the industry. These have been prescribed through legislation. Special safety requirements are also laid down to protect workers who are engaged in work which may expose them to risks. For instance, there are special safety provisions for workers who are exposed to the risks of falling objects or debris from heights, asphyxiation and fire and explosion. These standards and requirements are being reviewed continually to ensure that they are up-to-date and relevant.

(b) Safety Officers

Certain classes of factories have also been required to employ safety officers and to establish safety committees. These safety officers help to identify hazardous situations and make recommendations to management to rectify them. They also help to implement safety measures.

(c) Enforcement

To ensure that safety standards for the protection of workers are complied with, continuous enforcement action has to be taken. To increase efficiency, selective enforcement in factories and industries which are more hazardous has been practised.

(d) Advisory Committees

In addition, the Ministry has set up Advisory Committees to look into the special problems encountered by the ship-building and ship-repairing industry and the construction industry, so that appropriate recommendations on preventive measures can be made.

(e) Promotion

The Ministry places great emphasis on the prevention of accidents and has been continuously promoting safety awareness through the organization of various campaigns, exhibitions, workshops and safety months. Since 1972, a total of 21 of these have been conducted.

(f) Training and Education

Furthermore, numerous safety training courses have been conducted for safety personnel, workers, supervisors and management. Special mass orientation and safety instruction courses have also been conducted for workers in the shipbuilding and ship-repairing and the construction industries.

From the measures just related, it can be seen that the Ministry has spared no efforts to ensure that the lives of our workers are not unnecessarily exposed to risk and jeopardy. In spite of this, the Ministry will continue to look into better ways to prevent accidents at workplaces.

Mr Liew Kok Pun: Sir, may I ask the Hon. Minister of State for Labour whether there is a shortage of registered safety officers and, if so, how serious is the shortage? Also, what steps are being taken by his Ministry to overcome this shortage?

Dr Wong Kwei Cheong: Mr Speaker, Sir, about 240 safety officers are needed to meet the demand of factories which are required to employ safety officers under the Factories (Safety Officers) Order, 1975, At present, the Ministry has registered about 150 safety officers. The shortage of about 90 registered safety officers is expected to be overcome in the near future when the trainees from the next few batches of the National Productivity Board's safety officers training course successfully complete the course. To ensure an adequate supply of safety officers, the NPB will step up the training of safety officers. The Ministry is also reviewing the three pieces of legislation on safety officers, namely, (1) the Factories (Qualification and Training of Safety Officers) Notification, 1975; (2) the Factories (Registration and Duties of Safety Officers) Regulations, 1975; and (3) the Factories (Safety Officers) Order, 1975.

The needs for the services of safety officers for the various industries, the prerequisite qualification and training and the duties of safety officers to be employed by the various industries will be re-examined in the light of our experience.