The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has appointed its first safety chief, and he wants to make it second nature for soldiers to flag safety lapses without fear of reprisal to make training safer.
Brigadier-General Tan Chee Wee, who will oversee training safety as SAF's Inspector-General, said open reporting of accidents and near misses is a key element in fostering a strong safety culture.
This will allow the SAF to analyse safety trends that could help it intervene early in order to try and prevent accidents, he added.
"Open reporting must be a safety norm so that our soldiers and commanders can feel empowered and committed to do open reporting without fear of reprisal... It must be second nature for them to flag unsafe practices or acts of non-compliance by their teammates or even their commanders," said BG Tan, 44, citing feedback channels for soldiers to do so.
BG Tan, who is now director of joint operations, will head the new Inspector-General's Office (IGO) from Wednesday, and also take on a concurrent role as Chief of Staff-Joint Staff, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said yesterday.
The IGO was among several measures unveiled by the SAF to tackle training safety following the death of Singapore actor Aloysius Pang on Jan 23, four days after he was seriously injured in an overseas military exercise. The death of Corporal First Class (NS) Pang, 28, was the fifth training and operations-related death since September 2017.
In an interview transcript sent to the media, BG Tan said he plans to take concrete action to ensure the quality of safety inspections and strengthen a culture of safety across the SAF, apart from promoting open reporting.
"Our fighting units are charged with maintaining operational effectiveness in defending Singapore. However, they must also uphold high safety standards," he said, adding that independent assessments by his office will ensure that stringent benchmarks on safety performance and culture are adopted.
The IGO, which will have powers to conduct independent audits across the SAF, will report jointly to Mindef's permanent secretary and the Chief of Defence Force. It will submit regular safety performance reports to the Defence Minister.
Setting the goal of zero training fatalities, BG Tan said he would work closely with the SAF senior leadership on continuing a culture where "people train safe and they are protected while defending Singapore".
His immediate priority is to visit SAF units to assess the health of the open reporting and safety culture and evaluate the safety inspection systems across the services before making recommendations to the Chief of Defence Force, said BG Tan.
He accompanied Chief of Defence Force Melvyn Ong on Wednesday to visit the 295th Battalion, Singapore Artillery, where they were briefed on the safety training for soldiers during their in-camp training.
BG Tan has held a range of senior Mindef and SAF roles, such as commander of Air Defence and Operations Command, director of policy office and head of Air Plans.
He will also be the new Chief of Staff-Joint Staff, replacing Brigadier-General Kelvin Khong Boon Leong, who will take over as Chief of Air Force from Major-General Mervyn Tan Wei Ming on March 22.
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