Work fatalities up in first half of 2011

There were 30 as at end June compared to 25 in the same period last year.

In a speech by Minister of State BG (NS) Tan Chuan-Jin during the Workplace Safety and Health Awards 2011, he said, “This means that every week, a family has had to deal with the sudden loss of a loved one due to a work incident. This is made worse when we know that these deaths could have been prevented if the right safety measures were in place and were followed.”

On this regard he said the recently-formed WSH Institute will help MOM and WSH Council to make better informed policies and programmes to meet industry needs and changes in terms of workplace safety and health. They will also determine if existing programmes under WSH 2018 are effective and relevant.

According to the Minister of State, the Institute will also focus on applied research by looking into current gaps in practices and providing evidence-based intervention programmes, such as redesigning work processes in various industries to enable work to be done more safely.