Staying safe

No matter who you are, or what you do, personal health and safety are going to be high priorities in all aspects of your life. Given most of us spend eight or more hours a day in our workplaces, it’s only natural that much of our focus falls on this location – but there’s a limit to what any individual worker can do about health and safety in the workplace. Much of the drive and direction needs to come from the employer.

There are some solid reasons why HR and bosses should be heeding this call. They range from the philosophical (a safe workplace is more likely to be a happy and productive one) to the purely financial (workplace accidents cost money through both reduced staff retention and higher insurance and legal bills). That’s why most organisations are now heeding the call and putting greater investment into this area. At the same time, Governments around Asia are looking at ways to legislate for permanently safer workplaces.

Universal application

The Singapore Government is one such example. It is now heavily promoting a change of legislation that will see its Workplace Health and Safety Act apply to all workplaces from September next year. Currently, some sectors of the economy – including the retail, service and entertainment industries – are provided exemptions but the law will become all-encompassing from next year.

This demands that all employers be responsible, and take all reasonable steps to ensure, a safe environment at the workplace and all access points. They need to look out for not just their staff but all “occupiers” of the workplace including short-term contractors and visitors.

Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Manpower, says workplace safety issues remain a key priority in the marine and construction areas, and the Government is working to address the number of fatal falls and crane incidents. But, he told the launch of the National Workplace Safety and Health Campaign in late April, “(the government) will need to move beyond our current areas of focus to extend the outreach of (its) workplace health and safety efforts”.

The current campaign raises awareness of the law’s extension and also highlights ways employers can reduce common health and safety risks in their workplaces.

Medical providers have welcomed the renewed focus. Richard Kwok, Business Development Manager, Thomson Medical Centre, says employee healthcare is now at the forefront of many HR and business leader minds, leading to wider insurance coverage and an increased effort in preventative measures such as health screening. More and more organisations are also formalising their workplace health arrangements. “45% of companies have such programmes as compared to 33% five years ago,” he says, citing a recent study by the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB).

Employer efforts

While Governments will naturally use both carrot and stick tools to get employers moving in the right direction, it is ultimately up to each individual workplace to ensure it is a safe and healthy place in which to work. Fortunately, as Kwok, says, more organisations are realising the inherent value in making staff health a priority.

“Nearly half the private sector organisations (surveyed by the HPB) conduct basic health checks for their employees,” he says. “It is the result of a growing realisation that keeping staff healthy makes good business sense.”

A typical Workplace Health Programme starts with a comprehensive health screening service. From there, Kwok says there is a wide range of corporate health services available for employers. “These include immunisation, weight management programmes and health talks,” he says. “Thomson can also personalise health screening packages that cater to the specific health concerns of a respective workforce or organisation.”

Starting now

The lead up timing of the Workplace Health and Safety Act expansion is deliberately long. With more than one year to instigate changes to their workplaces, employers will have no excuses when the responsibility is enforced.

For those wondering where to begin, Kwok advises that the change in attitude – of both employers and their staff – is one of the most important leaps. “Prevention is always better and cheaper than cure,” he says. “Achieving excellence in workplace health and safety is a shared responsibility; employers and employees must work in tandem to work towards the common goal.”

From there, Singapore employers can look to a number of Government initiatives and incentives to begin developing a comprehensive workplace health and safety plan. “With the wide range of workplace health programmes and initiatives by HPB, the trend for corporate health trend is (set) to improve over the years,” Kwok says.