MOM extends Heightened Safety Period till May 31
Janice Tan
THE Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is extending the heightened safety period (HSP) by three months from Mar 1 to May 31, with additional measures, it said in a statement on Friday (Feb 10).
During the extended HSP, the chief executive officer or a board director is required to attend a mandatory half-day in-person workplace safety and health (WSH) training course.
This is for companies found to have serious WSH lapses following serious or fatal workplace accidents, and is in addition to existing HSP measures where companies may be banned from employing new foreign employees for up to three months.
The maximum fines for breaches of WSH Act Subsidiary Legislation will be increased to S$50,000 from S$20,000.
MOM said it will also empower workers by raising awareness of the various channels to report WSH concerns and offering protection for workers who speak up. It will conduct a national WSH campaign to be rolled out in April.
The ministry added that it will introduce bite-sized versions of WSH guidance materials from May 2023 to “better support all companies”, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in instilling a stronger safe operations culture.
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The HSP was introduced on Sep 1, 2022 with stronger measures to address the rise in workplace fatalities. Earlier this week, MOM on Monday said it may extend the six-month HSP beyond February as it reviews “the next steps” beyond the initial planned end date of Feb 28.
In the long term, MOM will work together with the multi-agency workplace safety taskforce to consider further measures to strengthen WSH standards and practices.
These include placing greater accountability on employers and senior management, enhancing safety training, reviewing incentives and penalties, and sectoral strategies.
The ministry aims to achieve its WSH 2028 goals of keeping the fatality rate at below 1.0 per 100,000 workers, and the major injury rates at below 12.0 per 100,000 workers.
During the HSP, annualised workplace fatality rate per 100,000 workers fell from 1.5 from January to August 2022, to 0.8 from September to December last year. The full-year fatality rate for 2022 was 1.3 per 100,000 workers.
However, MOM said, the annualised major injury rate per 100,000 workers rose from 16.8 to 18.7 in that same period. It also noted an “uneven” impact of the HSP across sectors, with construction experiencing the most improvement in terms of monthly average fatal and major injuries.
On the other hand, monthly average fatalities for the transportation and storage sector did not improve and its major injuries worsened during HSP.
Four workplace fatalities have also occurred since the start of 2023. Based on past trends, the periods after Chinese New Year have also recorded higher workplace injury numbers, MOM said, as companies rush to compensate for workdays lost.
“We are still not where we want to be – which is why we remain cautious, and have decided to extend the HSP with additional measures,” said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad.
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