What is the new framework for occupational safety and health?
In March 2005, the Government announced key reforms to improve Singapore’s occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. These reforms are based on the premise that accidents can only be prevented if all involved in the workplace take personal responsibility for achieving higher safety standards.
Thus, a new framework was developed aimed at reducing deaths at workplaces by a third in five years, and by half
Introduction within a decade or sooner (from 4.9 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2004 to 2.5 by 2015).
The 3 principles of the new framework are.
• Reducing risk at source by requiring all stakeholders to eliminate or minimise the risks they create at the workplace;
• Instilling greater industry ownership of OSH standards. The focus will be shifted from complying with prescriptive requirements to making employers responsible for developing safe work procedures suited to their particular situations in order to achieve desired safety outcomes;
• Preventing accidents through higher penalties for poor safety and health management.
