Fewer workplace fatalities during heightened safety period but more major injuries: MOM

SINGAPORE  — Five months into a heightened safety period imposed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), the rate of workplace fatalities has gone down.

However, an uptick in major injuries suggests that workplace accidents are still occurring as a result of post-Covid-19 pressures on businesses.

In 2022, there were 46 workplace deaths, higher than the 37 recorded in 2021, 30 in 2020 and 39 in 2019. The number was the highest since 2016, when there were 66 fatalities at work.

After the number of deaths in a month hit 10 in April 2022, MOM began to tighten safety measures and increase engagement with companies to improve workplace safety.

The ministry then introduced, from Sept 1, a six-month heightened safety period with further measures to increase penalties and improve accountability from company management.

Since then, the number of fatalities has gone down from an average of 4.5 per month in the first eight months of 2022, to 2.5 a month from September to December.

These figures were released by MOM on Thursday (Jan 19) at the closing of the eighth meeting of the International Advisory Panel for Workplace Safety and Health. CNA

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