Central Committee Members of the NTUC
Fellow Union Leaders
Management representatives
Workplace Health Co-ordinators
Distinguish Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
I was the guest-of-honour for the Launch of the Occupational Health Programme for the Financial Services Cluster last year January. I am pleased to note that the NTUC Quality Lifestyle Department is organising this seminar again with the programme partners, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Ministry of Manpower as a follow-up to the seminar held last year.
During the seminar last year, 6 banks and 2 insurance companies participated in the pilot launch of the office health programme. Subsequently, the number of participating companies increased to 20 from the financial services cluster.
The objective of this seminar is to create awareness of occupational health among employers and employees, especially in the areas of office ergonomics, indoor air quality and general health screening. Through this seminar, we hope that companies could adopt an integrated and structured health promotion approach to improve the health and well-being of employees.
A new set of guidelines on office ergonomics produced by the Ministry of Manpower’s Occupational Health Department will also be launched shortly. Let me elaborate further on the importance of office ergonomics and the new guidelines.
New Guidelines on Office Ergonomics
Office ergonomics is the science of fitting the workplace conditions to the job demands and capabilities of the worker.
Many of us spend a significant amount of time working with visual display units in offices. Singaporeans in general spend about 9-10 hours a day at the workplace. The long hours, poor work posture, poor work habits and stress from work can result in momentary pain and long-term injury. These factors may also contribute to a variety of health problems, sickness absenteeism and loss of productivity.
In a local study done by Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the top 3 complaints among office workers were found to be backaches, neck-aches, shoulder pain and headaches. This is very much similar to studies done in other developed countries. In fact, more than 50% of all the surveyed office workers had some of these health complaints.
It has been estimated that over 80% of Singaporeans will suffer from back or neck pain at some time in their lives. In fact, the problem is so common that 1 in 5 Singaporeans would have suffered an attack of back or neck pain in the last 6 months.
An article from the Straits Times dated 24 June 2001 mentioned that “SGH saw close to 650 patients a month with back and neck aches, and repetitive strain injury, resulting from muscles and joints being injured by oft-repeated movements like using a computer mouse”. The report also mentioned that “Changi General Hospital saw between 320 to 400 cases a month.” Our programme partner, Tan Tock Seng Hospital saw 1,700 patients per month for musculoskeletal pains and aches.
The good news is, most of these work-related musculoskeletal aches and pains can be prevented through the application of ergonomic principles and education.
The purpose of the Guidelines is to provide guidance on good occupational health practices in offices. The new Guidelines incorporate the Guidelines on Work with Visual Display Units and include sections on health aspects of office work, indoor air quality (IAQ), manual handling and common examples of poor working postures. A checklist is also included for evaluation of workstation design, work posture, work environment and work practices.
The Guidelines will be made available on the MOM website from today.
Under the Office Health Programme for the Financial Services Cluster, NTUC Quality Lifestyle Department has collaborated with the Tan Tock Seng Hospital to organise Ergonomics Awareness Talks and Workplace Evaluation. The purpose was to raise the awareness of the potential risk factors of occupational injuries, particularly, back problem and to provide useful tips on correct work postures in the workplaces.
A workplace evaluation conducted at one of the banks found some deviations from the ergonomics requirements, for example, some employees adopt awkward work postures when answering the phone while working with computers. The recommendations were to reorganise the workstation layout, provide headsets for the employees and educate them on good work habits and postures.
TTSH and MOM have also developed a Workplace Musculoskeletal Disorder Clinic for the general public. The clinic offers comprehensive services such as helping workers with diagnosis, management and prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders. A team of specialists including Rehabilitation Physician and Occupational Therapist from TTSH, and Occupational Physician from MOM jointly runs this one-stop centre. Upon referral to the clinic, a thorough medical examination, detailed personal and work history will be established. This is followed by a visit to the worksite to evaluate the workplace to find out the aggravating risk factors that may have contributed to the aches and pains. Preventive measures are discussed with employers and recommendations are given to safeguard other employees working on the similar job.
Next, let me also highlight some interesting findings of the Indoor Air Quality Study and basic health screening for the participating companies.
Findings of IAQ Study
In this project, IAQ assessments were carried out in 10 companies. The objectives of assessments were to determine the air quality, identify any IAQ problems, and advise the management on measures to rectify these problems.
The IAQ parameters of concern include air temperature, air movement humidity, bacterial and fungal counts, and airborne contaminants such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and dust particles. Excessive levels of carbon dioxide (an indicator of adequacy of ventilation) and low ambient temperature are the common IAQ problems.
The air quality was good in most of the work areas monitored. Most of the IAQ parameters monitored were well within the recommended limits. In 36 % of the work areas monitored, the carbon dioxide levels exceeded the recommended acceptable limit of 1,000 ppm. The air temperature in 16 % of the work areas monitored was slightly below the recommended lower limit of 22.5 C.
Recommendations have been given to the participating companies to rectify the problems, and to improve the IAQ. They have also been advised to establish an IAQ programme to manage their own IAQ so as to make the workplace more conducive.
Findings of the Basic Health Screening The basic health screening was conducted for 7 financial institutions. It was generally found that out of 2028 workers, 3.8% have high glucose level, 56.4% have high cholesterol level, 33.1% are overweight and 20.8% have high blood pressure. This is an alarming trend as stroke, diabetes and coronary heart disease are leading causes of death in Singapore. In fact, Singapore has one of the highest diabetes rates in the world.
In fact, the Health Outreach Programme or HOP will now be enhanced to include additional blood test for workers with blood glucose reading of 7 milimol a litre and above. The blood test is to assess an individual’s overall sugar control. Confirmed cases will then be referred to Alexandra Hospital Diabetes Centre for follow-up treatment and advice.
With early detection, the sufferers of coronary heart disease, stroke and diabetes may not require hospitalisation as the first preventive measure is diet control and not medication. So, the Health Outreach Programme reduces the number of man-days lost and medical costs for the companies.
I urge all the union and management representatives who are present today to seriously consider establishing a basic health assessment framework for our workers. Through such as comprehensive and affordable health screening package, workers will be able to monitor their own health profile, control their diet to enjoy a better and healthier life.
On this note, I wish you an enjoyable session.
