The annual Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards, organised by the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Singapore, recognises companies and individuals whom have upheld high safety and health standards at their workplaces. This year, 168 companies and individuals were honoured at a gala dinner on 30 July 2019.
Among the winners are Lendlease Retail and Lendlease Singapore, which achieved the WSH Performance (Gold) and WSH Performance (Silver) award, respectively, for fostering a culture of care and innovation to enhance safety performance. In addition, Lendlease’s Amgen MSB Project also received the Safety and Health Award Recognition for Projects (SHARP).
“Health and safety remain our number one priority and we constantly strive to eliminate incidents and injuries across our sites,” said Ng Hsueh Ling, Lendlease’s managing director, Singapore, and chief investment officer, Asia. “A culture of care guides our organisation at all levels and is embedded in the way we conduct business, ensuring everyone can go home safely to their loved ones, every day.”
Apart from a robust risk-management approach, the organisation implements a progressive near-miss reporting regime and associated data analytics to promote greater accountability for safe outcomes, in support of WSH Council’s Vision Zero. Through its Lendlease Training Academy, the company also centralises safety training for its workers and provides a structured framework to boost skills across the board. The adoption of technologies such as project site biometric access, building information modelling (BIM) and drone site surveillance, provides a 360-degree approach to safety that aims to reduce risks faced during all phases of construction.
In her opening speech at the awards ceremony on 30 July 2019, Minister for Manpower (MOM) Josephine Teo said that Singapore’s WSH performance has improved steadily over the past decade, with the workplace fatal injury rate reduced from 4.9 per 100,000 workers in 2004 to 1.2 per 100,000 workers in 2017 and 2018.
“To sustain our WSH improvement, we must not let our guard down and continue to keep WSH at the top of our minds,” she said. “MOM encourages companies to hire or retain higher skilled and experienced workers as they are already in tune with Singapore’s way of life and safety culture. However, we must not forget the new and inexperienced workers too, who face a higher risk of injuries. I hope companies will respond to the call to dedicate more resources to help these workers adapt to their work environments and avoid WSH hazards.” — Construction+ Online
