In 2022, workplace fatalities, dangerous occurrences and cases of occupational disease in Singapore spiked.
There were a total of 46 workplace-related deaths – a rate of 1.3 per 100,000 workers – up from 37 in 2021. It was the highest number of fatalities since 2015 and 2016, when there were 66 each year.
To address the spate of workplace-related deaths, the Manpower Ministry introduced a heightened safety period in September 2022, which lasted until the end of May 2023.
Mr Zaqy on Wednesday pointed out a target set by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong – to achieve and sustain a workplace fatal injury rate of less than 1.0 per 10,000 workers before 2028.
While he noted that a “milestone” was reached with the 2023 figure, he stressed that maintaining it “depends on all of us not letting up our recent effort”.
“We need to have proper risk assessment and management in place. When an incident occurs, we must investigate it thoroughly, identify the underlying causes, learn from our mistakes, and do our best to avoid doing it again,” he said.
“If we can do this, I am confident that we will entrench our improvement, and keep the number down over a longer period.”
