Safety bonuses a 'strong carrot' to align contractors' business interests with good safety practices: Zaqy Mohamad

SINGAPORE — Real estate developers are encouraged to award bonuses to contractors with good safety performance as a way to improve workplace safety standards here.

Such payments would be a “strong carrot” in aligning contractors’ business interests with good workplace safety and health practices, Mr Zaqy Mohamad said on Thursday (Aug 25).

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower was speaking at the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (Redas) Safety Leadership Forum held at The Fullerton hotel.

There have been a spate of workplace fatalities in Singapore this year, with 34 recorded to date. Almost 40 per cent of the deaths occurred in the construction industry, Mr Zaqy said.

Just as worryingly, 84 major injuries at construction sites were reported in the first half of the year, despite an overall drop in the past decade.

“This represents the worst performance since 2014 if we annualise this figure for the whole of this year." 

Calling the figures "disheartening and unacceptable", Mr Zaqy said that they demonstrate a "pressing need for safety leadership" in the construction industry.

He commended Redas — whose members "sit at the very top of the construction value chain" — for encouraging its members to implement safety bonuses, which will "incentivise contractors with a good safety performance by paying out bonus quantum at specific project milestones".

Keppel Land and City Developments Limited are among Redas members who have introduced such incentive schemes for all their projects.

“I look forward to more Redas members demonstrating such strong safety leadership,” Mr Zaqy said.

In his speech, he also outlined the steps that the authorities are taking to improve workplace safety here, as follows:

ENHANCED CHECKSAFE E-SERVICE

• The e-service, launched last year, allows developers and contractors to assess safety records of companies
• Enhancements to the service will allow users to view companies from all sectors, instead of just construction firms
• The safety records displayed will include more details, such as stop-work orders over the past three years, as well as safety accolades

CODE OF PRACTICE

• Announced earlier this year, a draft code of practice on chief executives’ and board of directors’ workplace safety and health duties is being finalised, Mr Zaqy said
• The draft code of practice spells out workplace safety and health responsibilities for management and boards, and is now out for public consultation 
• The courts may consider it when assessing culpability of company leaders if an offence is committed under the Workplace Safety and Health Act, Mr Zaqy added

REVISED DESIGN AND SAFETY GUIDELINES

• Published in 2016, the Workplace Safety and Health Guidelines (Design for Safety) aim to help developers incorporate safety in the planning and design phase of projects
• In view of the industry needing "more specific guidance", these guidelines have been revised, Mr Zaqy said
• They now include detailed checklists of what design concerns can be avoided and what can be encouraged to address risks

Mr Zaqy also elaborated on other ongoing efforts to tackle workplace safety issues, which include:

• Stepped up enforcement, with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) "almost doubling our inspections this quarter compared to the same period last year"
• Having signboards at construction sites showing QR codes linking to MOM — and its safety hotline — to empower workers to report safety issues straight to the authorities, in the event that their concerns get ignored by their supervisors

Issues of workplace safety have been increasingly thrown into the spotlight this year. 

Earlier this month, the issue was raised in Parliament again when Mr Melvin Yong, Member of Parliament for Radin Mas, filed an adjournment motion on workplace safety.