The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will introduce measures to strengthen workplace safety and health practices over the next six months to tackle the rising number of workplace fatalities.
Manpower Senior Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad announced the move on 1 September 2022.
Most notably, MOM will institute a mandatory Safety Time-Out (STO) between 1 and 15 September 2022.
All companies in the construction, manufacturing, marine, process, transport & storage industries, including any other company that employs heavy or industrial vehicles, must comply with the STO.
The Government will ban companies that do not comply with the STO from employing new foreign employees for up to a month, said MOM.
The move is the first time MOM has instituted the STO on a large scale across multiple sectors.
Mr Zaqy said there must be no compromise to worker safety.
He said: “We will work together to support our companies to take greater ownership for workplace safety and health. But, at the same time, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action against any party whose lack of care or consciousness is found to be egregious.”
As of 1 September 2022, the number of workplace fatalities for the year stands at 36 – just one less than the whole of 2021.
Heightened Safety Period
Over the next six months, should MOM find any company with serious WSH lapses, the ministry may debar the company from hiring new foreign workers for up to three months.
Chief executives of the companies will also be held personally accountable to MOM for the lapses and the rectifications.
As part of the mandatory STO between 1 to 15 September 2022, companies in the construction, manufacturing, marine, process and transport & storage industries must implement weekly coordination meetings and daily toolbox briefings.
Meanwhile, MOM will continue to ramp up inspections at worksites, and it will also work to increase awareness of whistleblowing channels.
Strengthened Support for SMEs
MOM will work to help SMEs improve their WSH practices and processes through the expansion of StartSAFE.
StartSAFE is an existing programme by the WSH Council that helps companies identify and manage workplace safety and health risks.
Once the SME has conducted the STO, MOM recommends that the company signs up for the StartSAFE programme to get WSH consultants to help them identify and implement good workplace safety practices.
MOM will fully bear the cost of the WSH consultants.
Targeted Measures for Construction Sector
Starting from 1 October 2022, contractors with poor workplace safety performance will be disqualified from participating in public sector construction tenders.
The Government will also revise the demerit point system issued for Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) breaches.
Errant companies with consistently poor workplace safety performances will find that their demerit point accumulation will reach penalty thresholds more quickly, resulting in the debarment of foreign hires for up to two years.
A Multi-Sectoral Workplace Safety Taskforce
Chaired by Mr Zaqy, multiple ministries will come together to form a new taskforce to investigate work practices and industry structures to strengthen safety practices and outcomes.
The taskforce will include representatives from the Ministry of National Development, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
MOM will provide more details on the taskforce at a later date.
NTUC’s Response to Measures
In response to the announcement, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong wrote on Facebook that NTUC welcomes the measures.
However, he hoped that beyond measures and penalties, more needs to be done to prevent lapses and accidents from even happening.
"We also call on companies to set up workplace safety committees with worker or union representatives to track WSH performance, discuss and implement WSH measures, including setting up reporting channels and assuring workers that there would not be any reprisal and all feedback will be looked into seriously," he wrote.
Additionally, he hopes that MOM will consider expanding the mandatory STO to cover more sectors, review companies' WSH systems and processes, as well as requiring companies in high-risk settings to have WSH audit carried out by independent evaluators.
