SINGAPORE - Free annual health checks, financial incentives for safety innovations and active risk assessment training for all staff are some of the measures that local company Galmon have put in place to ensure workplace safety in recent years.
The distributor for aerial platforms was commended for its efforts at the annual bizSAFE Convention and Awards ceremony on Thursday (Feb 28) after it received the bizSAFE Enterprise Exemplary Award for the third straight year.
This recognises performances in Workplace Safety and Health (WSH), such as being free from fatalities, major accidents and Stop Work Orders, from June 2017 to June 2018.
Galmon also received the Gold Award, reserved for companies that claim a hat-trick of Enterprise Exemplary Awards.
Citing Galmon's motto "to bring people to the top safely", its chief operating officer Mr Shawn Ong said: "We not only focus on safety but also on general welfare. There is a need for constant update and monitoring of risk assessment to improve our standards."
Galmon was just one of 50 bizSAFE partners, organisations and individuals feted for their efforts at the event organised by the WSH Council and supported by the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore Employers Federation and the National Trades Union Congress.
Last year, the workplace fatality rate was 1.2 per 100,000 workers, with 41 deaths, one less than in 2017.
There was, however, an increase in major injuries, from 574 in 2017 to 596 in 2018, while the total number of injuries also went up, from 12,498 cases in 2017 to 12,810 workplace injuries in 2018.
Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Minister of State for Manpower and National Development, highlighted how it was important for supervisors and managers to advocate a culture of care, and said: "With care, comes trust, and when there is trust, we can accomplish much more to prevent accidents at the workplace."
One such example was Mr Tomabo Jiao Jian, business development manager of Sixty-Six Switchgears, an electrical engineering service provider.
The company clinched the Enterprise Exemplary Award while Mr Jiao Jian, 31, received the bizSAFE Champion Award, given to individuals who are proactive in improving WSH performances.
After one of his subordinates did not show up for work for three days, Mr Jiao Jian confronted him, only to discover that the colleague's mother had died and he was struggling to cope emotionally.
Mr Jiao Jian then introduced a "heart-to-heart talk" initiative in 2015 to offer an avenue for other employees to share any personal issues with him.
He said: "In order to create healthy work environment, it was important to make them feel like they are a part of a family."
