MOM tightens rules on reporting of workers injured in accidents

SINGAPORE — Employers will now have to report all accidents that result in more than three days of medical leave for workers — even if these are not on consecutive days — as well as all work-related traffic accidents, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said.

The previous incident-reporting framework under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Regulations required employers to report an accident only if their workers went on more than three consecutive days’ medical leave, which led some bosses to game the system by splitting up the medical leave.

MOM said yesterday such errant practices not only affected the injured employee’s recovery process, but also the integrity of the incident-reporting framework. “It is important that MOM’s reporting database reflects an accurate picture of the number of WSH incidents, so that we can appropriately calibrate our engagement and enforcement actions,” it said in a statement.

Under the new rules, which kicked in on Monday, an employer has 10 days from an injured worker’s fourth day of medical leave to report the accident.

For example, if a worker gets medical leave on Jan 6 and 7 and goes back to work, but the doctor subsequently gives him medical leave on Jan 9 and 10, the employer will have 10 days from Jan 10 to report the accident. This means the deadline is on Jan 19.

MOM added that requiring employers to report all work-related traffic accidents “would send a clear signal that employers need to better manage traffic safety”. It added that following a spate of high-profile work-related traffic accidents in March last year, it considered requiring such accidents to be reported. A public consultation on this change received a “consensus supporting” the move.

Those who fail to report the incidents are liable to be fined up to S$5,000 for the first time and fined up to S$10,000 and/or jailed up to six months subsequently.

Correction: The example used in the original article stated that if a worker gets medical leave on Jan 6 and 7, and subsequently on Jan 9 and 10, the employer will have until Jan 20 to report the accident. This in incorrect. The deadline to report the accident is Jan 19. This article was edited at 6.15pm on Feb 3, 2014.