Minister of State for Manpower, Sam Tan looks upto technology for aiding companies cope with issues of workplace safety and health of employees. Announcing the preliminary findings that show 66 workers have died in workplace accidents last year, similar to the year before, it means that this remains at 1.9 per 100,000 people employed.
Singapore aims to achieve the national target of fewer than 1.8 deaths per 100,000 people employed by next year, Straits Times reports.
Addressing more than 400 people at the inaugural address of WSH (Workplace Safety and Health) Tech Symposium at the Singapore Expo Convention and Exhibition Centre, Tan said, “We owe it to our workers to keep them safe and healthy so that they go to work and return home safely to their families every single day. Let’s embrace technology to push new frontiers to bring about safer, healthier and more productive workplaces for our workers in a manpower-lean workforce.”
He further added that the Manpower Ministry’s Snap@MOM mobile app has been successfully upgraded to help people report about unsafe work practices. This new version will be released in the middle of this year. It will allow companies to track and analyse their workplace safety and health statistics. The report generated is meant for the companies to use in-house and will not sent to the Ministry, unlike those from the original app.
See: Addressing Futuristic Challenges to Total Workplace Safety and Health in Singapore
Tan cited an example of how technology can help with safety training, monitoring workplace practices and preventing accidents enumerating his recent visit to the Building Leadership Simulation Centre in Melbourne wherein workers and supervisors are taught to deal with worksite challenges in a risk-free virtual reality simulation.
In another example, JTC Corporation and Nanyang Technological University, together with local start-up Aitech Robotics and Automation, have developed a robot that can paint 10m-high ceilings of industrial buildings, thus eliminating the risk of workers falling from heights.
Also using drones to inspect industrial settings has been increasing, without requiring workers to clamber up scaffoldings or abseil down the sides of buildings.
Thus, there are great hopes from reliance on technology in Singapore to reduce workplace injuries, deaths and accidents to workers, especially on the construction sites.
Also read: MOM concerned with “deteriorating” workplace safety situation: Lim Swee Say
Image credit: Talk Business
