During the last few years, occupational health and safety legislation has become more relevant in Singapore. In March 2006, the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSH Act) was introduced to replace the previous legislation and switch a formerly prescriptive legislative approach to a broader performance-based liability regime, based on general duties of care. The key changes under the WSH Act are:
- imposing general duties of care on various stakeholders (for example employers, occupiers, principals and workers);
- requiring employers, in particular, to proactively identify and mitigate risks and hazards at the workplace; and
- increasing penalties to reflect the cost of poor safety management.
The WSH Act initially only applied to workplaces deemed a ‘factory’ but the intention is to cover all workplaces in Singapore over time. To this end, in March 2008 new sectors were brought within the WSH Act’s scope (i.e. healthcare and veterinary activities; hotels, food and beverage sectors; water supply, sewerage and waste management activities and others).