Jurong Island Vision Zero Forum: Understanding Human Factors in Chemical Industries

31 May 2024 Forum Past Event Chemicals Chemical

• Date:

  23 May 2024

• Time:

  11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

• Location:

  Microsoft Teams

• Spots Available:

  180

• Event resources:

  Added
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At the Jurong Island Vision Zero forum held on 23 May 2024, participants from the Chemical Industries learnt more about human factors which impact behaviour that can cause errors at the workplace, and how such factors affect workplace safety and health (WSH).

In his Opening Address, Er. Lucas Ng, Chairman of Jurong Island Vision Zero Workgroup, encouraged everyone to embrace the Vision Zero mindset, where every injury and ill-health at work is preventable. Er. Ng also highlighted the importance of understanding why human errors occur, a key factor in preventing workplace accidents.

Key takeaways from presentations by Ministry of Manpower, Singapore Refining Company and Pfizer Asia Manufacturing on effectively integrating human factors towards improving WSH standards include:

• In the “Guidelines on managing human factors in major hazard installations”, it provides practical guidance for major hazard installations to identify potential human failures and manage human performance which are essential to improving human reliability.

• Understanding the key principles of managing human errors i.e., human error is normal and predictable, and can be identified and managed.

• Managing human errors should be an integral part of companies’ safety management systems.

• When performing risk assessments, companies should identify tasks where human errors are more likely to occur and take extra precautions to have the necessary safeguards in place to prevent them.

• When an incident occurs, investigations should seek to identify how the work done led to human error, so that changes can be recommended if needed.

By understanding how work processes could be influenced by human factors, companies can strengthen their WSH capabilities and build a safer and healthier workforce.