By Shukry Rashid
Available in a booklet form, the Singapore Institution of Safety Officers (SISO) Professional Standard for Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Professionals aims to enhance the competencies and status of WSH practitioners, and uphold high standards in the industry.
The standard was launched at Fullerton Hotel on 30 November 2016. It comes after NTUC Secretary-General (SG) Chan Chun Sing called on industry leaders during a dialogue session in June 2016 to professionalise industry standards.
The standard also came through after SISO tapped on the Labour Movement’s extensive network of unions, enterprises and professional guilds.
SISO President Bernard Soh said: “The WSH profession in Singapore will value-add and play a more significant role in our nation’s drive towards achieving Vision Zero.”
The Vision Zero movement was launched by the National WSH Campaign in April 2015 to rally everyone to be healthy and prevent injuries at work.
Benchmark for Others
The professional standard provides a progressive career ladder and growth roadmap in the WSH profession. For example, it stipulates the key purpose and complexity of each role – from WSH officers to general managers – and the qualifications, knowledge and skills needed.
The standard also acts as a skills benchmark, to align the profession with that of similar local and international organisations.
SG Chan, who was the guest of honour at the launch, hopes to see similar standards being applied to other professions such as human resources and marketing.
He said: “The content might be different, but the philosophy and the framework, they are the same. If we can set up this standard as a benchmark, we hope that other industries will follow.”
Leadership Programme
Coinciding with the launch of the standard was the WSH Leadership Programme (WSHLP) Graduation Ceremony. The programme, which was created by NTUC and SISO in November last year, saw 53 students from the inaugural batch graduate during the ceremony.
The six-month WSHLP was designed to groom WSH professionals to take on leadership roles by equipping them with enhanced technical, management, leadership skills and expertise.
One of the graduates is 53-year-old Kam Wai Kuen, a WSH assistant director for Singapore General Hospital.
She was taught by lecturers who were experts in various fields, which enabled ordinary WSH practitioners like her to gain insights and new perspectives such as workplace safety laws.
The programme has also enabled her to create value for her organisation.
“To me, I have a job, and I do my job. But creating value is to create something new out of my job and entrench myself into my organisation,” she added.
Good To Know
To find out more on the SISO Professional Standard for WSH Professionals or the WSH Leadership Programme, visit www.siso.org.sg.
Source: NTUC This Week
