SINGAPORE – A new three-month campaign was launched on Friday to promote a culture where workers are empowered to report safety hazards before accidents or near-misses take place.
Called Spot, Stop and Report, the campaign by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) also aims to make the reporting of safety breaches easier and educate workers on common workplace hazards.
It will spread the word through print materials and videos, among other things, to highlight to workers their right to report safety issues, common workplace hazards to watch for, as well as how to use their company’s reporting channels to prevent accidents at the workplace.
Companies can then act against these risks.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign at SBS Transit’s Sengkang Depot, NTUC assistant secretary-general Melvin Yong said that through the steps the campaign advocates, workers should feel safe to report workplace safety concerns to management without fear of reprisal.
“It is imperative that we take a proactive and pre-emptive approach towards safety, rather than a reactive one,” he added.
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad, who was also at the launch of the campaign, stressed that the Government, unions and employers have to work together to ensure safer and healthier workplaces.
NTUC’s campaign complements a national workplace safety campaign, themed Reporting Saves Lives, launched in May.
At Friday’s event, transport operator SBS Transit’s management team also signed a pledge committing to support its workers’ right to call for a “stop-work order” if they deem any work unsafe, as well as a programme to help employees take ownership of their safety.
Mr Yong noted that workplace accidents, injuries and deaths had risen as many companies rushed to clear a backlog of work after the partial lockdown imposed in 2020 to stop the spread of Covid-19.
“Workplace fatalities rose from 30 in 2020 to 37 in 2021, to 46 in 2022, the highest number of fatalities since 2016,” he said.
There have been at least 18 workplace deaths so far in 2023.
Mr Yong added that workplace deaths have begun to climb again after a heightened safety period from September 2022 to May 2023, when firms had to carry out a thorough review of their safety procedures and were subject to extra measures.
He said in Parliament earlier this week that the fatality rate had gone up from 2.3 deaths a month during the heightened safety period to an “alarming” 4.3 per month in the three months after.
In the first eight months of 2023, the number of accidents at Land Transport Authority worksites had also risen to 33, from 27 over the same period in 2022.
