National WSH Campaign
Organised by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council, and supported by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF), the annual National WSH Campaign sets the stage for the nation’s year-long outreach efforts to promote safety and health in workplaces.
Launch of the National WSH Campaign 2024
This year’s Campaign seeks to sustain the momentum from 2023’s good WSH performance, by deepening a culture of WSH excellence among more companies. Companies can strengthen their WSH culture by having an internal reporting framework, where all employees look out for each other by reporting any unsafe situations that could potentially harm themselves or their colleagues. Internal reporting can accelerate hazard identification and incident prevention. Thus, this year’s Campaign continues the theme of “Reporting Saves Lives” from last year.
20 years ago on 20 April 2004, the tragic Nicoll Highway collapse claimed the lives of four workers, and was amongst three high-profile workplace incidents that year, which led to the workplace fatality rate of 4.9 per 100,000 workers for 2004. Since then, safety standards in Singapore have improved significantly, with the workplace fatality rate reducing by about five-fold to a record low of 0.99 per 100,000 workers in 2023, putting Singapore amongst the safest countries in the world.
To sustain a culture of WSH excellence and improve further, the WSH Council has mounted this year’s WSH Campaign to exhort companies to adopt the three “E”s:
a) For management, empower workers by encouraging them to report unsafe situations and recognising their efforts in doing so.
b) For supervisors, ensure the implementation of safe work procedures. When a worker reports an unsafe act or situation, act to mitigate the risk immediately.
c) For workers, embrace safe work procedures to protect yourselves. Urge colleagues to do the same to protect them. Do not take short-cuts. Don’t be afraid to speak up when you see unsafe situations.
The tripartite partners have echoed this call to strengthen the culture of WSH excellence. Senior representatives from the Ministry of Manpower (SMS Zaqy Mohamed), National Trades Union Congress (Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong), Singapore National Employers Federation (Council Member Adrian Lim), and WSH Council (Chairman Abu Bakar Mohd Noor), have recorded a short clip in support for reporting unsafe workplace situations.
Watch the National WSH Campaign 2024 Launch Video, where SMS Zaqy Mohamad attributed Singapore’s good WSH performance to the collective efforts of employers, industry associations, safety professionals, the labour movement, and workers themselves. However, he also emphasised the need to remain vigilant as we build a culture of workplace safety excellence.
Campaign Resources and Microsite
Watch our Campaign video to see how a brotherhood of workers trumps adversity as they look out for each other and show us the life-changing impact of reporting to keep themselves safe.
Visit the Campaign microsite for more information and resources on this year’s National WSH Campaign.
Download Campaign posters which you can share with colleagues and co-workers.
• National WSH Campaign 2024 Poster (Worker)
• National WSH Campaign 2024 Poster (Members of the Public)