NTUC’s U Live Department and the Health Promotion Board (HPB) have collaborated to develop the Union Health Promotion Grant for unions, especially those in sectors with higher proportion of mature workers, to play an active role in improving the health of workers. The grant will also complement efforts to leverage union networks to reach workers in smaller companies.
With Singapore’s workforce ageing and the challenges brought about by a tight labour market, the Labour Movement believes that it is imperative to keep mature workers healthy, so that they can continue working to help ease the labour crunch and also save more for retirement.
NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How said, “One of the Labour Movement's key priorities is the employability and well-being of workers of all levels and industries. Good health is an important enabler of this outcome. With this grant, NTUC and our affiliates will be able to do more with unionised companies in workplace health initiatives, and to do so in a more industry or even occupation-focused way. Healthier workers make for a more productive, cheerful workforce. This will be win-win for both workers and companies."
The Union Health Promotion Grant quantum is $300,000 per year. Each union can apply for one grant at any given time to support health promotion programmes in one of the key health areas below:
a) Chronic disease, which includes early detection and management
b) Obesity management, which includes nutrition and physical activity
c) Mental wellbeing
d) Smoking cessation
The grant is expected to benefit tens of thousands of workers from target sectors with high proportion of mature workers such as transport, retail, cleaning and security in the first year.
To help union leaders gain a better understanding of the initiatives that contribute to health promotion, particularly among mature workers in workplaces with rotational shift hours, union leaders from various unions, together with NTUC President Diana Chia and NTUC Secretary-General Lim Swee Say attended a Learning Journey today at two companies – ComfortDelGro and Ramky Cleantech Services at the Singapore Polytechnic – to observe how health promotion programmes can be brought to workers. These initiatives were made possible with the support of unions such as the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU). Both worked closely with HPB and the two companies to understand the health concerns of these groups of workers, and worked on maximising existing amenities and/or creating new facilities to implement various workplace health efforts.
The two sites showcased different approaches to improve the health of workers. In ComfortDelGro, union leaders observed how a centralised location, i.e. the taxi workshop, can serve as a constant touch point to reach out to drivers. At the Singapore Polytechnic, union leaders saw how arrangements were made between Ramky Cleantech and the school to utilise the Singapore Polytechnic Optometry Centre to reach out to the cleaners.
Mr Yang Ban Seng, ComfortDelGro CEO (Taxi Business) said, "Our cabbies' welfare is of paramount importance. We want them to take better care their health. Together with HPB, ComfortDelGro Taxis has arranged the free health screening and coaching sessions for our taxi drivers during their monthly scheduled vehicle preventive maintenance checks so that it is more convenient for them. We are glad that over 2,000 taxi drivers have taken advantage of this programme."
Mr Ivan Lam, head of human resource at Ramky Cleantech Services Pte Ltd said, “Ramky would like to thank BATU, HPB and Singapore Polytechnic in working collaboratively on this health initiative project which will potentially benefit about 180 of our cleaners working in the polytechnic. We believe that this will go a long way in keeping our cleaners healthy, not only for work, but also for their personal wellbeing.”
Union leaders from NTA and BATU expressed their support for the new union health promotion grant. Both unions have been exploring proposals with HPB on how they could use the new grant to further complement the existing efforts and value-add to more members. Mr Ang Hin Kee, Executive Advisor of NTA said, “We are happy that the first phase of our partnership with HPB since 2012 has led to more taxi drivers becoming more active and informed on the importance of staying healthy through various co-funded workplace health programmes and sporting activities by HPB and the union. The next phase of the partnership would be to explore how to effect behavioural change and make exercise a regular feature in the lives of our taxi drivers.”
The trip has also excited unions from other industries on the possibilities to have similar programmes. Mr Fang Chin Poh, General Secretary of the National Transport Workers Union (NTWU) said, “For other public transport workers such as bus and train captains, the availability of this grant is good news. Through this Learning Journey, we have gotten some ideas on how to collaborate with HPB to utilise the grant. While details need to be further worked out, I believe that our union, as well as the other unions, is able to start considering how best to work with our respective companies to implement workplace health initiatives for mature workers in the sector, and guide this group of workers towards becoming a healthier and more sought-after group of workers."
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