SINGAPORE – A public database of company safety records has been expanded to include those outside of the construction sector, to help real estate developers here better choose contractors for their projects.
The CheckSafe database now includes information on companies from sectors, such as transportation, food services and education.
Other improvements made on Aug 5 to the repository include allowing developers to compare up to 10 companies at once, up from five previously.
This is part of a package of measures aimed at addressing the recent spate of workplace deaths and injuries, said Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad on Thursday (Aug 25).
Allowing developers to take such records into account will create a virtuous cycle where contractors equate safety with business opportunities, said Mr Zaqy at a safety leadership forum organised by the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council.
“In the end, developers benefit from stronger safety performance, lower risk of work stoppages due to accidents, and a better reputation,” he told forum participants at The Fullerton Hotel.
Introduced in January last year, CheckSafe allows industry players and the public to look up a company’s safety statistics, such as workplace fatalities, details of stop-work orders issued over a three-year period, and accolades a firm has received, such as MOM’s WSH Award or bizSAFE Award.
Mr Zaqy said there is a “pressing need” for safety leadership in the construction industry, which accounted for more than a third of the 34 work-related deaths this year.
The sector also accounted for 84 major injuries in the first half of 2022, the worst the industry has performed since 2014 if this figure was annualised. Examples of major injuries include amputation, blindness, paralysis and burns that lead to more than 20 days of medical leave.
“This is disheartening and unacceptable,” Mr Zaqy said.
He said the collapse of a concrete pier at Keppel Shipyard in Tuas on Monday, which killed a 38-year-old Bangladeshi worker and injured four others, is a strong reminder for the construction sector to continue checking on the safety of structures here.
“While it was in the marine sector, given that it was infrastructure that failed, I think it is something we should be concerned about,” Mr Zaqy added.
“As developers, you play a critical role in raising safety standards. You also have tremendous influence as service buyers,” he added.
“Hence, I urge you all to do your part to realise our WSH 2028 vision of Singapore being one of the safest workplaces in the world.”
In 2019, Singapore had set a goal to bring the workplace fatality rate to below one per 100,000 workers by 2028, something only the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom have done consistently.
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