SINGAPORE : The government is stepping up efforts to make
the marine sector a safer place to work in. It will be inspecting
shipyards in August to ensure that industry players comply with
safety regulations.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Health Hawazi Daipi
said this when he opened the Keppel Safety Training Centre on
Thursday.
The centre aims to achieve an "incidence-free workplace" and serves
as a safety training hub for about 14,000 workers.
Mr Hawazi stressed that the marine sector has always been a
priority area for his ministry.
But he noted that its Workplace Safety and Health performance in
recent years has been less than ideal, with the fatality rate
rising for two years.
The number increased from 8.4 per 100,000 employees in 2007 to 9.2
in 2008 and to 11.1 in 2009.
Mr Hawazi said the severity of injuries has also risen. For the
sector, the severity rate went up from 212 man-days lost per
million hours worked in 2007 to 274 man-days lost in 2009.
He said: "Our inspectorate found that while many shipyards have
documented and planned the safety procedures for key work
processes, the measures may not always be adequate or kept
up-to-date with changes to work processes.
"Line supervisors and workers on the ground may also lack
sufficient capabilities and commitment to ensuring
safety."
Soure: CHannelNewsAsia