New programme to help cut workplace injuries

Workplace fatalities inched upwards in the first half of this year - from 25 in the first six months of last year to 30 as at end June this year.

Citing this statistic yesterday at the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards, Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin said this meant that, every week, a family has had to deal with the sudden loss of a loved one due to a workplace incident.

To keep work-related injuries down, a new WSH Assist programme will be launched to benefit some 6,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Meanwhile, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) honoured 16 contractors at its Annual Safety Award Convention yesterday for their excellent workplace safety practices.

While the LTA has achieved its lowest accident frequency rate of 0.2 accidents per million man-hours worked for the last decade, the authority began trials on radio frequency identification (RFID) technology which would improve access management and track worker whereabouts during underground construction work.

Besides providing an accurate headcount and last-known location of staff in the various underground construction areas, the RFID technology can monitor the working hours of workers within the construction site to minimise the likelihood of fatigue and to improve safety.

ORIGINAL SOURCE

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