MOM removes WSH accreditation of four firms over lax courses

SINGAPORE — Four training companies have been stripped of their accreditation to run Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) courses for having lax courses and assessments.

The companies, which ran various WSH courses including those catering for building construction supervisors and workers who carry out work at height, had provided trainees with answers to assessment questions, allowed copying during assessments and ran courses that were shorter than had been stipulated, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a press release yesterday.

The violations of the four errant companies — Safety Council, Safety Academy, Foster Asia Pacific and Global Tech Training Solutions — compromised the integrity and robustness of their WSH courses, the ministry added.

Workers have to attend and pass WSH courses such as the Construction Safety Orientation Course and Shipyard Safety Instruction Course, which these companies also ran, to be issued a work permit.

The courses educate workers on measures to safeguard against accidents and incidents, and about their rights and responsibilities under the employment law.

In response to TODAY’s queries, an MOM spokesperson said the certifications of the trainees who had taken the relevant courses run by the four companies will still be valid, but encouraged their employers to send them for a refresher course.

The ministry said it received tip-offs on the companies’ violations earlier this year and immediately ordered them to stop all WSH training courses. Their accreditation was revoked between April and October.

With the exception of Mr Aravind Raja Periasamy of Global Tech Training Solutions, the directors of the three other errant companies — Mr Ong Lai Huat and Ms Lee Kok Moi, who both run Safety Council and Safety Academy, and Mr Adrian Yeo of Foster Asia Pacific — have been blacklisted. Any new companies that they start or join will be banned from running WSH courses for two years, the ministry said.

Three trainers of Foster Asia Pacific have also been suspended from running WSH courses for between three and six months.

The directors of Foster Asia Pacific and Safety Academy could not be reached for comment, while a staff member at Safety Council, who declined to be named, said on the telephone that he had no idea this had happened.

The listed phone number of Global Tech Training Solutions seemed to have been disconnected.

The MOM’s commissioner for WSH, Mr Ho Siong Hin, said the ministry will continue auditing training providers to ensure WSH courses are properly conducted, adding that it “will not hesitate to take action against (those) ... found to have malpractice”.

Employers and trainees may report poor training practices in WSH courses to the MOM at 6438 5122 or mom_cc [at] mom.gov.sg. All information submitted will be kept strictly confidential.