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LETHAL WEAPON: The roller cutters of this meat-slicing machine crushed a worker's fingers as there was no safety guard attached. -- PHOTO: WSHC
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EVERY three days, a worker in Singapore loses his hand or fingers.
The startling statistic, based on the first six months of the year, came to light yesterday at a forum on protecting workers' limbs at the workplace.
Such accidents typically happen when hands or fingers become caught between roller cutters of meat-slicing machines or presses that have enough force to mould metal.
In greatest peril, therefore, are those who work in manufacturing, metal-working and food processing.
Calling for more to be done to protect workers, Professor Low Teck Seng, who chairs the metal-working and manufacturing committee in the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC), said his target is to cut the number of workers losing their limbs down to about 90 a year by the end of next year.
The figure was 90 in 2005. A year later, the number spiked to 168, before dipping to 163 last year.
If such accidents could be eliminated, 'all the better', Prof Low told the audience at the forum, which comprised about 400 managers and supervisors from the manufacturing and metal-working industries, along with safety engineers.
Former shipyard supervisor James Goh, 61, is an example of someone who has to live with the consequences of a slip or a moment's inattentiveness: He lost his right arm to a metal-cutting machine in 2003.
He said: 'There are a lot of things that I cannot do by myself like putting on my trousers and eating...I will always need someone to help me.'
Aside from the worker's physical and emotional pain and possible loss of income, businesses also chalk up losses in man-days.
Last year, hand-related accidents resulted in the loss of 17,000 man-days.
While some accidents happen because companies fail to enforce safe work procedures, the majority happen because safety guards have fallen off, or worse, have been removed, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) officers have found.
Mr Winston Yew, the senior assistant director in the ministry's occupational safety and health inspectorate, said: 'It's not rocket science but some companies just do not adhere to these simple safety precautions.'
A new Code of Practice on the safe use of machinery was unveiled yesterday to safeguard the 570,000 workers in the manufacturing sector.
The ministry has banded together with the WSHC to run seminars on workplace safety. Spot checks on high-risk workplaces are also conducted, and fines meted out wherever safety and workplace health standards fall short.
An MOM spokesman said enforcement officers will carry out an islandwide safety blitz on manufacturing and metal-working companies in about three months.
jermync@sph.com.sg
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