A total of nine lives were lost due to workplace accidents between May to June 2021, bringing the total number of workplace deaths to 23 for the first half of the year.
This was the highest number of recorded workplace fatalities in the last four years, with 16 fatalities recorded in the same period last year, 17 in 2019 and 18 in 2018.
The Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM’s) preliminary findings revealed that many of the accidents were caused by basic safety lapses which could have been avoided.
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad shared the findings during his opening address at the online bizSAFE Convention on 29 June 2021.
He said: "This is a very alarming trend that needs to be addressed. The tragic loss of nine lives in just a few weeks from May to June was most disappointing.
"These accidents occurred across various industries, such as construction, manufacturing, and transport and storage. The most worrying and disturbing aspect is that many were caused by very basic safety lapses that could have been avoided."
In response to this, the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) has called for a Safety Time-Out (STO).
STO is an initiative that calls for companies to temporarily suspend work operations to revisit the safety practices at their workplaces, as well as to review the existing control measures.
Together with six trade associations, WSHC recently called upon some 10,700 association members to take time out to review their safety controls and work methods.
Mr Zaqy said: “I strongly urge all companies, even those not in traditional high-risk industries, to answer this call to prevent further workplace injuries and fatalities.”
NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong has also issued a media statement, saying that NTUC will be working with all its affiliated unions to push for STOs at all high-risk worksites.
The Building Construction and Timber Industries Employees’ Union (BATU) has already taken the lead in calling upon its unionised companies to conduct STOs
“This includes urging the top management to look at conducting site walks and educating workers of Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) practices, reviewing the adequacy of current risk control measures, and ensuring that the control measures are implemented according to the risk assessment,” Mr Yong wrote.
