SINGAPORE – The Manpower Ministry (MOM) will step up inspections of the metalworking industry and raise safety standards for smaller-scale construction work such as renovations, as these accounted for many work-related injuries in the first half of 2023.

MOM on Thursday highlighted the need for targeted interventions in these areas, as it released national workplace safety and health statistics for the period between January and June. There were 14 workplace deaths and 311 major workplace injuries in these six months.

This is down from 18 deaths and 316 major injuries in the second half of 2022, and 28 deaths and 298 major injuries in the first half of 2022.

Major injuries refer to severe non-fatal injuries, which include amputations, blindness and fractures.

The spate of deaths in 2022 had prompted the ministry to impose a heightened safety period between September 2022 and May 2023. It said this move has shown positive outcomes based on the latest workplace safety figures.

However, MOM flagged the construction, transportation and storage, and manufacturing sectors, which together contributed to 13 of the 14 deaths in the first half of 2023 and 62 per cent of all major injuries.

In the manufacturing sector, major injuries increased to 87, up from 62 in the second half of 2022.

Major injuries in the construction industry rose to 80, from 73 in the six months prior.

In all three sectors, small and medium-sized enterprises generally fared worse than larger companies, MOM said.

In particular, addition and alteration works, renovation and facility management contributed to 67 per cent of all workplace deaths and major injuries in the construction sector between January and June.

MOM said it will work with relevant agencies and industry partners to improve safety standards for contractors involved in such smaller-scale construction work, though it did not provide more details.

It will also ramp up inspections of smaller construction sites, which may get less enforcement coverage than larger ones due to the sheer number of them around the island.

In the manufacturing sector, 43 per cent of all the workplace deaths and major injuries came from metalworking. There were 38 deaths and major injuries in the sub-sector in the first half of 2023, compared with 18 in the second half of 2022.

To arrest this increase, MOM said it will prioritise inspections at metalworking worksites to detect and deter safety breaches.

A demerit point system that is currently in place for the construction sector will also be extended to manufacturing companies by Oct 1. This move was announced in May.

With this system, companies that accumulate sufficient demerit points for safety breaches will be temporarily banned from hiring new foreign employees for between three months and two years.

Meanwhile, an MOM enforcement operation covering high-risk sectors including construction and manufacturing is under way until October, with a focus on vehicular safety and other areas of concern such as working at height and machinery safety.

The ministry held a similar operation between April and June focusing on machinery and vehicular safety. It conducted more than 900 inspections and issued fines amounting to more than $400,000.

According to MOM, falls from height and the collapse or failure of structures and equipment were the two leading causes of workplace deaths in the first half of 2023.

For both major and minor injuries, the top cause was slips, trips and falls, followed by incidents involving machinery.

As in 2022, there continued to be a spike in workers developing occupational diseases such as noise-induced deafness and musculoskeletal disorders in the first half of 2023.

There were 671 cases, slightly lower than the 720 cases in the second half of 2022, but more than double the 332 cases in the first half of 2022.

MOM attributed the increase to the expansion of an enhanced workplace health surveillance programme.

This was introduced in 2021 to detect occupational diseases early by requiring companies with noisy work environments or other hazardous processes to send workers for annual examinations.

As most occupational diseases develop only after prolonged periods of exposure, there is sometimes a lag between the examinations, diagnoses and when the cases are reported.

With the annualised fatality rate here falling to 0.8 per 100,000 between January and June, MOM said Singapore is back on track to meeting its goal of having less than one death per 100,000 workers by 2028.

The ministry has said that only four countries have consistently achieved this low fatality rate.

Based on the latest three-year averages, the United Kingdom had 0.4 deaths per 100,000 workers, followed by the Netherlands at 0.5, Sweden at 0.7 and Germany at 0.8. 

Singapore ranked fifth at 1.1, according to MOM’s benchmark.

Commenting on the latest statistics, Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said there have been improvements across the board. But there is room for Singapore to do better, especially in terms of building a safety culture, he added.

Asked about the rise in worker deaths since June – a concern that was raised in Parliament by labour MP Melvin Yong – Mr Zaqy said MOM is watching the situation closely to see if there has been any let-up in safety standards.

“As you can see with the measures that we are putting in place, we are making it tighter... So give us a bit more time,” he told reporters.

“It’s not so much the measures alone, but it’s really about creating that awareness, the culture,” he added. “I think that’s more critical than just having to fine and enforce.”