Policies In Brief : New Workplace Safety and Health committee

New Workplace Safety and Health committee

A new WSH2028 Tripartite Strategy Committee will be set up to look at stepping up workplace safety and health (WSH) in Singapore.

The committee will find ways to strengthen WSH ownership among companies and workers, help companies detect and reduce safety and health risks, and raise the competencies of WSH professionals and WSH training providers.

To reinforce positive WSH behaviour, it will look at having insurers price premiums more accurately based on claims history and getting hospitals to reintegrate injured workers as part of the Return-to-Work programme.

The committee will also review the regulatory regime to ensure it remains effective without excessive burden on compliant companies. The WSH2028 panel will start work next month and intends to complete its report in a year.


From Work Trial to Career Trial

Work Trial, a programme that allows unemployed workers to try out new jobs before committing, will be enhanced and renamed Career Trial.

Under Career Trial, the Government will double the maximum training allowance from $1,200 a month to $2,400 a month. The salary support to employers and the additional retention incentive will be available for all job seekers unemployed for six months or more, instead of only for those unemployed for 12 months or more previously.

The enhanced programme will also feature an increase to the maximum salary support that the Government will give employers, from $3,600 to $5,400 per job seeker over a six-month period.


Cut in subsidies for international students

Subsidies for international students taking up Education Ministry-funded postgraduate by coursework programmes will be discontinued for most courses, while those for permanent residents will be lowered. But there will be no change in subsidies for Singaporeans.

Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said this will free up around $25 million in budget each year, which will be rechannelled to support modular courses at the institutes of higher learning.

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 06, 2018, with the headline Policies In Brief : New Workplace Safety and Health committee. Subscribe