SINGAPORE: On Monday (May 27), the Ministry of Manpower announced two significant measures related to workplace safety: an increase in maximum fines for safety breaches from S$20,000 to S$50,000 and mandatory video surveillance installation at construction sites with contract sums of S$5 million and above.
The Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce said that these measures will be implemented from June 1 onward to maintain Singapore’s record lows for workplace fatal and major injury rates last year and entrench a culture of workplace safety and health.
The higher limit for the maximum fine for breaches in safety is being set as a stronger deterrence against breaches of the WSH Act Subsidiary Legislation that could bring about death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence (i.e. serious harm).
“The maximum fines are reviewed based on principles such as severity of the offence, i.e. whether it was a major cause or contributing factor of serious harm.
The increase in maximum fines is a proactive step towards strengthening ownership and accountability of WSH, particularly among senior company leadership who are responsible for shaping the safety culture at the workplace,” said MOM.
The Ministry also noted that while there had been an improvement from 2022, the construction sector was still a top contributor to fatal and major injuries across sectors last year.
In an effort to push for even more improvements in the construction sector, every construction site with a contract sum of S$5 million and more will be required to install a Video Surveillance System (VSS) at worksite locations where high-risk work activities are conducted.
“By enabling remote monitoring and video capture, the VSS acts as a deterrent for unsafe workplace behaviors, provides valuable training resources for companies, and offers insights for investigations of safety incidents and near-misses.
This will foster a proactive approach to WSH management and promote a culture of incident prevention in workplaces,” MOM added.
The agency reminded everyone that workplace safety and health (WSH) is a collective responsibility.
Each stakeholder is expected to continue to actively participate in building a culture of WSH excellence in Singapore so that workers and workplaces can thrive.
More details concerning the fines, which range from S$10,000 and below to S$50,000 and below, depending on the severity of the breach and the severity of the harm done, may be found here. /TISG
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