As part of Tuas Terminal's construction, workers from Hyundai Engineering and Construction had to spray a coating agent on the exposed surfaces of a submerged concrete unit while suspended in the air.
That ended when a team from the firm designed and built an unmanned sprayer, controlled by workers on the ground, to apply the coating instead, eliminating the risk of working at a height for the workers.
For their efforts, Hyundai Engineering and Construction received an innovation award at the annual Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards, organised by the WSH Council.
A total of 190 companies and individuals received awards this year in various categories, including WSH officers and workplace supervisors.
Instead of the usual presentation ceremony for all winners, a scaled-down event was held yesterday because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Manpower Minister Josephine Teo and Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad presented trophies to seven excellence and gold award winners from the performance awards category.
A commemorative e-book was also launched to mark the occasion this year. It documents efforts by some of the award winners to ensure that their workers have safe and healthy working environments.
In a recorded speech that was part of the e-book, Mrs Teo highlighted the importance of safe management measures amid the pandemic, and said the uncertainties and business disruptions brought about by the pandemic should not stop firms from keeping up good WSH standards. She also encouraged companies to look for ways to apply the WSH 2028 health, ownership and technology strategies to improve their WSH performance.
The 10-year WSH 2028 campaign was launched last year in a bid to make Singapore among the safest workplaces in the world by 2028, with a fatal injury rate of less than 1.0 per 100,000 workers.
Citing Hyundai's example, Mrs Teo said the unmanned sprayer device reduced project work time by more than 50 per cent and helped the company save $2.5 million. "This is a good example of how good WSH practices make business sense as well," she said.
