SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has changed the accident reporting requirements for employers from January 6.
Employers will now be required to report all work-related traffic accidents involving their employees under the Workplace Safety and Health (Incident Reporting) Regulations, MOM said in a statement on Tuesday.
They also have to report all accidents which cause their employees to be unfit for work for more than three days, regardless of whether these were consecutive days or not.
This is to discourage the practice of breaking up medical leave unnecessarily, which could affect employees’ recovery process and the integrity of the incident reporting framework.
Any employer who fails to make an incident report as required by law is liable to be either fined up to $5,000 for a first-time offence; or fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed up to six months for subsequent offences.
MOM had received industry feedback that errant employers could bypass the previous Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) reporting requirements by breaking up medical leave of injured employees, so that it is not more than three consecutive days.
With the amended reporting requirements, if the injury sustained by the employee resulted in a total of more than three days’ medical leave, such accidents must be reported within 10 calendar days from the fourth day of medical leave.
“It is important that MOM’s reporting database reflects an accurate picture of the number of WSH incidents, so that we can appropriately calibrate our engagement and enforcement actions. The errant practices can obscure the actual severity of the accidents that have occurred, and prevent MOM from getting an accurate picture of the reality on the ground,” said MOM in a statement.
To improve work-related traffic safety, MOM conducted a round of public consultations in September 2013 on proposed amendments to the WSH Act to make work-related traffic accidents reportable. There was a consensus supporting the amendments from the public.
Employers can email MOM at mom_oshd@mom.gov.sg if they require further clarifications.
source: business.asiaone.com
