Parliament: Unit commanders will be penalised for safety lapses

Unit commanders who do not meet safety standards or who are responsible for safety lapses will see this reflected in their performance reviews even if accidents do not occur, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said in Parliament yesterday.

He made this point as he re-emphasised the need to have a strong safety culture in all units and safety consciousness "down to the last soldier", if the target of zero fatalities during national service training is to be achieved.

Dr Ng was giving a ministerial statement in response to 20 questions filed by MPs on recent training deaths, as well as safety measures taken by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

In his speech, Dr Ng also provided the preliminary findings into Corporal First Class (CFC) Liu Kai's death last November, and more details about the incident that led to CFC (NS) Aloysius Pang's death last month.

On commanders who do not meet safety standards, the minister said: "Let me emphasise that such commanders will be marked as having performed unsatisfactorily even if accidents have not occurred. This is the right emphasis to prevent accidents."

He added: "Commanders and supervisors must lead by example in emphasising safety, and must know that safety lapses will affect their performance review... Soldiers must have a strong respect for safety rules, take care of one another and speak out on safety concerns.

"Incentives and disincentives must be aligned to achieve the right safety outcomes. Our safety systems must weed out unsafe practices, even when they do not lead to accidents."

He said that in the past three years, an average of 2 per cent of servicemen a year had been punished under the SAF Act for safety lapses. Apart from fines and detentions, they had faced administrative penalties such as delayed promotions and reduced benefits.

On the other hand, servicemen who demonstrate good behaviour are rewarded, and units and individuals are recognised during the different services' annual Safety Day.

Dr Ng refuted the notion that safe training cannot go hand in hand with realistic training.

"If we have a strong safety culture and safety systems, it will give soldiers greater confidence to train hard and realistically.

"SAF commanders are convinced that it can be done, and these measures I have outlined today will lead us to that goal of achieving zero training fatalities," he said.

He said soldiers can highlight risky behaviour and safety breaches to their superiors without fear of reprisal, and any soldier regardless of rank can call for an immediate stop to training if he has spotted safety breaches or unsafe practices.

Servicemen can also report safety incidents and near-misses through a 24-hour safety hotline, which has received about 140 calls a year.

After the speech, Non-Constituency MP Dennis Tan asked what level of unit commanders - such as those at the battalion or formation levels - will be penalised when there are safety breaches.

Dr Ng said in response that there are independent personnel outside the SAF and the Defence Ministry (Mindef) looking at the issues, and "if they decide that a change of the most senior leadership makes a difference, it is up to them to recommend".

"I think we want to be careful that we do what we think works and makes a difference.

"For Mindef and the SAF, we want to deal with day-to-day issues, aligning our incentives and disincentives so we get the whole system moving and making sure that the effect is felt on the ground rather than posturing or politicking."

Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) asked whether there is a need for training to be halted across the board if an incident is a result of human error rather than systemic lapses.

Dr Ng noted that many people who comment on such safety issues are also servicemen themselves. "And if you think that the system has degraded to a point, point out where it is and we will fix it," he said.

"But if we are experiencing injuries and deaths as a result of, as you say, human error, then neither should we punish indiscriminately even those who are not involved.

"That does not bring anyone any comfort or positive results. Deal with the issue, strengthen the system bit by bit, and it will take years," he added.