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3 weeks' jail for company director who bought forged training certificates for construction safety supervisors

SINGAPORE — A company director has been sentenced to three weeks' jail for using forged training certificates for safety supervisors that his firm deployed when other firms took up construction projects.

Muhammad Iqbal Mohamed Rafe is due to return to court on Aug 10, 2023 to be sentenced.

Muhammad Iqbal Mohamed Rafe is due to return to court on Aug 10, 2023 to be sentenced.

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  • Ko Woei Hin, 44, was sentenced to three weeks' jail for offences under the Workplace Safety and Health Act
  • In April 2016, Ko paid money for forged training certificates for safety supervisors his firm deployed when other firms took up building projects
  • Ko was a director at Wang Sheng Design & Build

SINGAPORE — A company director has been sentenced to three weeks' jail for using forged training certificates for safety supervisors that his firm deployed when other firms took up construction projects.

Ko Woei Hin, 44, received the jail term for offences under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement on Monday (April 3).

In April 2016, Ko, a director at Wang Sheng Design & Build, paid money to acquire forged Building Construction Safety Supervisor (BCSS) certificates for his foreign employees so that they could work as safety supervisors, said MOM.

Wang Sheng was in the building construction industry and provides safety supervisors for other firms that take up construction projects.

Ko had been told by one of his foreign employees that he knew how to obtain forged certificates, which would mean that the foreign employees need not attend any formal training and assessment.

The employee said that Ko would have to pay S$500 per certificate to obtain them. Ko then asked the worker to procure two such certificates.

The forged certificates were purportedly issued by an accredited training provider, AMI Consulting, which entered the false BCSS records into MOM’s Training Record System to indicate that Ko’s foreign employees had attended the BCSS course.

MOM said that Ko also did this to maintain his foreign employees’ work permits, and due to these false records, his foreign employees’ work permits were allowed to continue.

The forged BCCS certificates and false records were eventually uncovered in June 2016 during MOM’s routine surveillance of training providers, MOM added.

Ko was sentenced on March 30.

MOM did not give any reason why the matter has taken nearly seven years to get to court.

In response to TODAY's queries, MOM said that AMI Consulting’s training provider status was revoked following its investigations in 2016.

The ministry said that Ko’s actions were not only illegal, but they also seriously undermined workplace safety.

MOM reiterated that there must always be properly trained and qualified supervisors to ensure that workplaces and workers are safe.

“An unqualified safety supervisor would not fully understand the safety measures that ought to be undertaken when carrying out various tasks at worksites. This would put many lives at risk of serious injury or worse, death,” it said.

An unqualified safety supervisor would not fully understand the safety measures that ought to be undertaken when carrying out various tasks at worksites. This would put many lives at risk of serious injury or worse, death.
Ministry of Manpower statement

MOM said that since 2021, 15 individuals have been convicted and jailed under section 53 of the WSHA for possessing forged certificates.

“MOM will not hesitate to take strong actions against individuals and companies who willfully compromise workplace safety and health or circumvent MOM’s work pass framework," MOM said.

“All workers, employers and training providers must play their part to uphold high standards of integrity and ensure works are only performed by trained and qualified personnel.”

Related topics

crime forgery Workplace Safety and Health Act MOM

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