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The two sectors saw a total of 10 workplace deaths between January and June this year, compared to just two for the whole of last year.
Six fatalities came from the metalwork sector, which had a clean record in the first half of last year.
In contrast, two other sectors - one construction, the other shipbuilding and ship-repair - cleaned up their acts, halving workplace deaths.
The shipbuilding and ship-repair industry suffered three deaths from January to June this year, compared to eight in the first half of last year.
In construction, six people died from work-related accidents in the first half of this year, while 11 had died in the same period last year.
Overall, the number of work-related deaths dropped slightly in the first half of this year to 25, compared to 28 in the first six months of last year.
But workplace injuries went up by 19 per cent to 4,839, from 4,070 in the first half of last year.
The data were revealed by the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee yesterday.
The committee oversees safety and health standards in industries such as construction, metalwork, oil and gas, shipbuilding and ship-repair and other engineering sectors.
A spokesman for the Manpower Ministry said the deaths and injuries in the metalwork sector were due to a lack of proper risk management and bad communication.
Out of the six deaths, half were from falling objects. Two workers fell from a great height and one was crushed by a lorry.
Three of the four deaths in the petrochemical sector were from a fire at the ExxonMobil refinery in Pulau Ayer Chawan. The fourth was from a separate case.
Cases involving less serious injury also went up by 20 per cent to 4,743.
Minister of State for Education and Manpower Gan Kim Yong said that about a quarter of the numbers came from sectors new to the safety and health reporting regime.
They include transport and storage, wholesale and retail, and hotels and restaurants, brought in only in March last year.
The MOM wants to reduce the number of workplace-related deaths to 2.5 per 100,000 workers by 2015.
Changes to building controls were passed by Parliament on Thursday to keep the construction industry alert.
They include licences for builders from July next year, tighter controls for underground work and stiffer penalties for flouting the rules.
