18 industry leaders appointed as first workplace safety & health advocates

SINGAPORE – A new initiative aims to reward contractors and sub-contractors that dedicate effort and funds to improving workplace safety and health (WSH) practices.

This involves the WSH Council appointing 18 leading firms across the construction, manufacturing and transport industries as WSH Advocates.

These advocates will try to ensure that contractors and sub-contractors, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are fairly recognised and rewarded for their work in improving workplace safety.

The 18 firms – all of which are major private companies with an outsized reach to many contractors that supply products and services – include semiconductor giant Micron Technology, SMRT and City Developments Limited.

Manpower Minister Tan See Leng unveiled the appointments in a pre-recorded address to open the eighth edition of the Singapore WSH Conference on Sept 11 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, which saw around 1,600 attendees.

Good WSH must mean better business opportunities, Dr Tan said, adding that the public sector is leading the way by giving companies that place greater emphasis on safety a better chance of clinching government contracts they tender for.

“For large government projects, we also reward contractors with good WSH performance via the WSH Bonus Scheme,” he added.

Under the new programme, the WSH Council is partnering with large industry players in the private sector that are prepared to similarly reward and incentivise safer contractors.

However, Dr Tan said that bold experimentation with new technology and greater collaboration, both within Singapore and regionally, are also crucial for maintaining Singapore’s WSH performance, which has improved over the past two years.

He also noted that more firms from Asean’s major trading partners, such as the European Union, are looking to work with suppliers with good WSH practices.

“If we can work collaboratively to find solutions to our occupational safety and health challenges, our workers will be kept safer, our companies will benefit, our region will prosper together.”

WSH Advocates should require all contractors and sub-contractors doing manual work on their premises to have WSH accreditation, such as a minimum of level 3 under the bizSafe framework.

They ought to also favour awarding contracts to safer contractors, by making good WSH performance a qualifying criterion to a vendor or by putting weightage on past WSH performance in evaluating prospective contractors.

Contractors that show good WSH performance on their projects should also be rewarded by WSH Advocates through greater preference for future contracts or monetary bonuses.

The advocates should help their contractors – and sub-contractors – develop WSH capabilities through measures like training as well, the WSH Council said.

Council chairman Abu Bakar Mohd Nor said that many companies volunteered for the appointment, but the council selected the first 18 based on the companies’ potential reach and influence towards SMEs.

He added that the benefit of more robust WSH measures extends beyond letting these contractors secure contracts, and also leads to improved productivity and work quality.

Mr Chen Kok Sing, Micron Singapore country manager and corporate vice-president, told The Straits Times that the firm, which has 25,000 contractors working for it here at any one time, decided to step up to share its own experience on how prioritising safety has made for good business.

He said he hoped that doing so would help dispel misconceptions that safety measures are cumbersome and impede work.

Working from height and handling chemicals are among tasks at Micron where WSH is especially critical, Mr Chen noted, adding: “We really wanted to contribute to the Singapore safety culture, and it’s our means of contributing back to the community after all these years of success in Singapore.”

The company already adheres to the standards WSH Advocates are expected to meet, and there is no additional cost expected as a result of the appointment.

Total Facility Engineering has been a contractor to Micron for various projects, including piping work, over the past decade. It has around 60 staff working at Micron’s facilities here.

Mr Muhammad Khair Abdullah, a safety officer with Total Facility Engineering, said Micron provides a very structured environment, where everyone can share any safety concerns.