SINGAPORE - A workplace safety and health (WSH) officer tasked with supervising the construction of a gas plant in Jurong Island has had his registration revoked by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) after he was fined for corruption last month.

Chia Wee Cheng, 42, had used his position as a WSH officer to borrow money from two foreign workers employed by sub-contractors on the project. On Feb 14, the Singaporean was fined $4,000 after he was convicted of three counts of corruption.

Chia was served a notice of intent to revoke his WSH officer registration after he pleaded guilty, and had 21 days to show why it should not be rescinded.

He did not do so, hence, the registration was revoked on Thursday (March 10) and he cannot apply to register as an authorised person under the Workplace Safety and Health Act for the next two years, MOM told The Straits Times.

It said its investigations did not find that Chia had compromised any safety aspect at his workplace, but he had put himself in a conflict-of-interest position.

According to his LinkedIn profile, which has since been taken down, Chia had more than eight years of experience as a WSH officer prior to his offences in 2020.

At the time, he was employed by Anotech Energy Singapore, but was seconded to industrial gases and engineering company Linde to provide supervision services for the firm's new gas plant being built in Jurong Island.

As a health, safety and environment officer for Linde's branch office in Singapore, Chia's job was to conduct site inspections and handle other safety-related matters.

He also reviewed and approved permits-to-work (PTWs) submitted by contractors for construction activities such as bore piling and excavation.

Under the Workplace Safety and Health (Construction) Regulations, it is an offence to carry out high-risk construction work like these without a PTW first being issued.

According to court documents, Chia's first offence was on Oct 11, 2020, when a bore piling site supervisor for Song Yu Construction, a sub-contractor for the project, went to the project's site office to ask Chia to approve a PTW for piling works.

The pair knew each other while working at the project site, and the site supervisor regularly submitted PTWs to Chia for approval.

At the office, Chia told the site supervisor that he needed money urgently and asked to borrow $300. He did not say what he needed the money for.

The site supervisor agreed as he hoped Chia would show some leniency with the PTW approval and safety inspections.

The site supervisor was also afraid Chia might make things difficult by withholding approval for the PTW if he refused, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Woon Yee.

He loaned Chia another $500 when the latter asked to borrow money again on Oct 31, on the pretext that he needed cash to repair his electric bicycle.

On Nov 29, Chia asked for a third loan, this time from a construction manager at Sinotcc (Singapore), another sub-contractor for the project.

The two of them interacted frequently as the construction manager was one of the people Chia would approach to stop work in the event of any safety infringements.

Not wanting to offend Chia and risk delaying the progress of the construction works, the construction manager transferred $1,000 to Chia's account the next day.

Said DPP Lim: "The accused knew... he was not permitted to take such loans from sub-contractors as a conflict of interest may arise, and that he was prohibited from doing so according to Anotech's Code of Ethics."

It is not clear how Chia’s offences came to light, but he was charged with corruption on Sept 28, 2021, and his WSH officer registration was suspended on Dec 2.

He has since fully repaid the loans he took, and is now a food delivery worker.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, MOM said it takes a serious view against WSH officers who abuse their powers for personal gratification.

"Their integrity needs to be beyond reproach as the lives of our workers are at stake if safety and health measures are not implemented properly," it added.

Among WSH professionals, this case has caused some consternation.

Mr Han Wenqi, a registered WSH officer, said he was concerned about the PTW system being misused, noting that the safety officer is supposed to jointly inspect the work site's condition with the applicant before granting approval.

He said: "If the PTW process is neglected, the site may be unsafe. This puts workers at risk."

In an earlier statement, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said Singapore adopts a strict zero-tolerance approach towards corruption.

Anyone who is convicted of a corruption offence can be fined up to $100,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.