PM Lee made an opening at the “World Congress on Safety and Health 2017” by setting a new WSH target of less than 1 fatality for every 100,000 employees for the next 10 years i.e. by 2028.

Comparing to the previous target set in 2008 of 1.8 fatality per 100,000 employees, the new target put Singapore at the same level with OECD countries like the Netherlands, the UK, and Sweden with less than 1 fatality per 100,000 employed persons.

Let’s take a look back at Singapore’s WSH performance for the past years:

With the new target, PM Lee also mentioned action plans to achieve the target

Employers
Take care of employees to ensure their safety and counter safety problems as soon as they arise to prevent them from happening again

Employees
Take ownership of their own safety and health by informing alarm if they discover potential hazards at work or by going for training courses

Government
Work closely with industries with higher accident rates, like construction, marine, and logistics.

For SME, MOM is piloting a Total WSH Services Centre in Woodlands. The Centre will provide a one-stop service to support and advise some 300 companies employing 3,000 workers.

MOM will also launch a Workplace Safety and Health Technology Challenge to encourage companies to use technology more pervasively, to reduce the risks of workplace accidents and ill-health. As a start, the Challenge will focus on vehicular safety, which is currently our top cause of workplace fatalities.

Funds will be provided to companies and research institutes to develop new technological solutions.

Source: Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, 2017