Singapore Government accepts recommendations by International Advisory Panel to strengthen workplace safety and health
27 February 2023
On 19 January 2022, the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) announced that the Singapore Government is accepting all eight recommendations by the International Advisory Panel (“IAP”) on strengthening workplace safety and health (“WSH”). These recommendations aim to reduce workplace incidents, mitigate the WSH risks arising from climate change and green technology, and guide MOM and its stakeholders towards achieving the WSH 2028 goals.
Details on the key recommendations are set out below.
Key recommendations
To generate stronger motivation for companies and workers to embrace WSH, the IAP’s recommendations include the following:
- Place strong emphasis on top management’s responsibility for WSH; top management must foster a safe operations culture where safety considerations are embedded into all aspects.
- Extend WSH oversight to contractors in the whole supply chain.
- Bring business interests into greater alignment with WSH.
- Build workplaces where workers feel safe to speak up.
The IAP also recognised the need to strengthen the knowledge and awareness of stakeholders to better manage WSH risks and recommended the following:
- Inculcate a more pervasive training culture beyond foundational training and level up WSH practices.
- Improve WSH knowhow of small to medium enterprises.
- Promote age-friendly workplace safety practices and designs.
- Pre-emptively address WSH risks arising from climate change and green technology.
Reference materials
The following materials are available on the MOM website www.mom.gov.sg: