Mr Andrew Tan, President of Singapore Institution of Safety Officers,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

1          Good Morning.  I am happy to be here this morning to join you at the Occupational Health Best Practices Conference cum Workshop.  The Occupational Health Best Practices (OHBP) Award was introduced last year to give recognition to companies which have made significant efforts to manage health risks at the workplace.  We hope to promote greater ownership of occupational safety and health (OSH) outcomes by companies and encourage them to go beyond minimum compliance.  We also want to encourage the use of risk assessments to eliminate or reduce risks at source before they become a problem.

2          There were 31 award winners last year.  This year, a total of 38 awards will be given out to 28 companies.  I am pleased to see that some companies have won more than 1 award this year, such as Agilent Technologies, which has won 4 awards. One for Excellence in the Ergonomics Solutions category, two for Excellence in Chemicals Control and one for Innovation in the same category.  This is a clear demonstration of its company-wide commitment to occupational health.  Agilent combines company-wide initiatives with local safety committees at its various manufacturing sites.  It has a well established Environment, Health and Safety Management System, which comprises an ISO 14001 certification and a Safety Management System which is subjected to regular third party audits.  Its Occupational Health and Safety Policy is to create health and safety practices and work environments that enable their workers to work injury- and illness-free.  This policy is endorsed by their CEO and all managers and employees are expected to support the implementation of this policy. Agilent has also been innovative in creating viable and effective solutions at their workplace.  For instance, Agilent’s North Coast Drive factory developed and implemented a flammable waste collection system, thus eliminating gassing incidents, and manual handling of flammable chemicals.  This has won Agilent a double win in the Chemical Control category, one for Excellence, the other for Innovation.  Agilent has also succeeded in reducing its global injury and illness rate by 33% between 2003 and 2004.  This shows that proactive and progressive OSH management can make a significant difference.  It is a good model for all of us to emulate.

Importance of Occupational Health

3          It is gratifying to note that the incidence of occupational diseases per 10,000 employed persons has dropped from 4.8 in 1998 to 2.0 in 2004.  However, the trend seems to have reached a plateau in recent years.  We need to refocus our efforts on preventing occupational health injuries.  One area which deserves more attention is ergonomics.

4          Poor ergonomics leads to injuries for workers.  According to a 2004 survey by Singapore General Hospital (SGH), 70% of working adults suffer some form of back, shoulder and neck pain.  Such staff ills could impact businesses as productivity falls and absenteeism and healthcare costs increase. So it would make sense to make some simple ergonomic adjustments at the workplace to reduce such incidence.

5                    I am therefore pleased by the recent launch of the national standard on the Code of Practice for Office Ergonomics, an effort which was initiated by the Ministry of Manpower.  This Singapore Standard is published by SPRING Singapore.  It is developed in conjunction with key stakeholders including the Ergonomics Society of Singapore, Health Promotion Board, Ministry of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Back Society (Singapore) and CPG Consultants Pte.  This new Standard will serve as a guide to help companies achieve a safer and more comfortable work environment.  In the long run, this will improve the employees’ health at their work place, bolster their productivity and enable them to stay in their job longer. 

6                    An analysis of recent workplace accidents shows that most of them could have been prevented by taking appropriate precautions.  In 2004, half of all construction fatalities were falls from height.  In shipyards, the figure is 28%.  Risks associated with this falling from height could have been better managed if risk assessments had been conducted and risks minimized at source.   We must ensure that our regulatory framework encourages the industry at all levels to take greater ownership for safety outcomes so as to reduce workplace fatalities to half by 2015.

A new Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee (WSHAC) to Lead Industry

7          Towards this objective, the Government announced a new OSH regulatory framework in March 2005.  Under this new framework, rather than relying solely on the Government to prescribe specific measures, all stakeholders will now have the responsibility to analyse and develop their own risk management measures.  In today’s fast moving environment, we believe that employers should know best what they need to do to ensure their workers’ safety and health.  A new Workplace Safety and Health Bill was tabled in the Parliament last month.  This will eventually replace the existing Factories Act.  The new law is significantly different from the current Factories Act in that it is less prescriptive and more outcome-based.  It will also emphasise the importance of effective risk management at the systemic level.

8          However, legislation alone will not be effective in raising OSH standards.  Neither can the government effectively drive standards in a top-down manner.  Industry and the various stakeholders must play an active role in implementing effective OSH measures.  The Ministry has therefore formed a Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee (WSHAC) comprising 14 leaders across a wide range of industrial sectors.  This initiative was first announced by the Minister for Manpower in Parliament earlier this year.  The role of the advisory committee is to advise MOM on OSH standards, promotion and training.  In addition, to address the unique challenges of key sectors, the Advisory Committee will set up 4 sub-committees, in the areas of Construction, Metalworking, Shipbuilding & Ship-Repairing and Healthcare. 

9          Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of the Shell Companies in Singapore, has been appointed Chairman of the WSHAC.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank him and his Committee members, who have agreed to take up this challenge.  We look forward to working with the Advisory Committee to raise the OSH standards on the ground.

Recognising Best Practice Leaders

10        Moving forward, one of the tasks of the WSHAC will be to review the awards framework currently administered by the Ministry, including the OHBP award itself. The Award started in 1999 with the Noise Control Award scheme.  Over the years, several categories have been added, including chemical control, ergonomics, and innovative solutions.  The Advisory Committee could consider re-launching the OHBP Award as the OSH Best Practices Award (OSHBP). The objective of the new Award would be to highlight industry’s best practices in safety and health and to enable companies to share with each other their best practices. We hope this will create a multiplier effect in raising OSH awareness.

11        In line with the changes to the OHBP Award, the existing OHBP club could also be converted into an OSH Club.  Existing members of the OHBP club will continue to be members of the new Club, and we will draw in winners from the new OSH awards. The objective of this club is to provide a forum for networking and collaboration on OSH matters, as well as to share best practices among the industries.  Some OSH Club members may also be called upon by MOM to serve as champions of the capability building programme to help the SMEs.

Conclusion

12        The OSH journey never ends as the nature of work is constantly evolving, and we need to ensure our safety and health standards and practices remain relevant.  I urge you to keep up the good work in improving your OSH practices.  Afterall, maintaining a safe and healthy workplace is a win-win proposition - companies remain productive and competitive, while workers are protected and remain healthy. 

13.       On this note, I wish all of you a fruitful and productive day.  Thank you.

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