By Ramesh Subbaraman
A total of 164 companies in Singapore which received the 2016 Wokplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards from the Manpower Ministry have two things in common, said Minister of State for Manpower Sam Tan.
They are a strong leadership commitment and support for workplace safety and health and innovative ways to provide their workers with a safer and healthier work environment.
The Workplace Safety and Health Awards were presented at a ceremony on 27 July 2016
Nobody Gets Hurt
Infineum Singapore has been a recipient of the WSH Performance (Excellence) Award for more than five years.
The company’s workers are unionised under the United Workers of Petroleum Industries (UWPI).
The company’s philosophy is summed up in three words: “Nobody Gets Hurt”.
The top management is committed in keeping channels of communication open. This encourages employees to provide honest feedback, discuss safety observations with one another and make suggestions for improvements.
“Safety has the utmost priority in the company, all the way from the top, anyone along the line down to the operator. If they feel there is an unsafe situation, they have the right to stop work and escalate the issue to the supervisor for a safety review.
Safety is also part of the performance appraisal. It is the first item on every colleague’s performance review. Safety is one out of four bonus indicators, and it has a 25 percent weightage,” emphasised Lim Tau Chen, plant manager at Infenium.
Adopting Best Practices
Over at Keppel Fels, there are daily morning toolbox meetings, shared Safety Supervisor, Superintendent Kenny Foong, who received the award on behalf of his company at the event.
“Best practices as well as lessons learnt from past incidents are shared so that all workers are kept updated on the latest safety practices.
To enable my workers to complete their tasks more efficiently, I also think of ways to improve work processes without compromising on safety.“From electrical safety at the workplace to fire safety awareness, I take up regular courses so that I am kept abreast of the latest safety practices,” said Mr Foong.
Keppel Corporation’s General Manager for Group Health, Safety and the Environment, Mr RK Jaggi said that in 2015, the Group invested $46 million to improve safety systems and training.
Also, over 65,000 personnel have received training at the Keppel Safety Training Centre and Safety Awareness Centres since 2010.
Train the Trainer
Meanwhile more is being done to improve WSH training standards.
To help trainers stay current in their knowledge and skills, the WSH Council has developed a new Train-the-Trainer Programme.
Trainers are now required to take part in at least 10 hours of training and professional development activities each year.
One of the organisations which has come forward to conduct these programmes is U Associate member Singapore Institution of Safety Officers.
