28 Apr 2022
Speeches
Welcome Address by Mr John Ng
Chairman, Workplace Safety and Health Council at the
Launch of the National WSH Campaign 2022 on
Thursday, 28 April 2022 at 10:30am at the
NTUC Auditorium
Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Manpower,
Members of the WSH Council,
Industry partners,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Introduction
1. Good morning and thank you for joining us today. Together with our tripartite partners – the Ministry of Manpower, the Singapore National Employers Federation, and the National Trades Union Congress, I welcome you to the launch of the National Workplace Safety and Health Campaign 2022. With the recent easing of Safe Management Measures, it is nice to see familiar faces in person today. That said, I am glad that we are still able to have many more join us virtually from your offices or homes.
2. Today’s campaign launch is a little more special as it coincides with the World Day for Safety and Health. With this, I also welcome our international partners from afar, who have recorded greetings for us on this special day.
Care Time
3. During last year’s National WSH Campaign, we encouraged workers to take time to take care by introducing “Care Time”, a scheduled break for employees to engage in safety or health actions. I would like to share that “Care Time” has been downloaded more than 13,000 times, with many setting these reminders to stretch or exercise, grab a healthy snack, or check for workplace hazards. I hope many more will download this useful reminder to help us embed WSH within our busy schedules.
National WSH Campaign Workout
4. To rally and energise both employers and employees about WSH in a fun, engaging and yet practically useful way, we will be launching the National WSH Campaign Workout. With social gatherings at the workplace now permitted so long as current requirements are adhered to, we encourage everyone to do this workout with your colleagues. It could be a warmup pre-work, or an energizer post-lunch. This is one way to adopt “Care Time”! The lyrics to the workout song also include snappy safety reminders on looking out for hazards and gearing up properly.
5. In producing the video, I’d like to thank our colleagues from SNEF, as well as those from Deliveroo, Foodpanda, RedMart, Sembcorp Marine and Teambuild, who gamely stepped up and helped us in guest starring in the video. We will get a chance to try the workout later, and I urge even those joining us remotely to give it a go.
6. We will also kickstart a National WSH Campaign Workout Challenge, where we welcome all companies to share with us footage of your workers doing the workout. We have kept the moves easy but you can always refer to the workout video that is available on the WSH Council’s social media channels and campaign microsite. Companies with high employee participation will stand to win attractive prizes, so please help spread the word.
Promoting a culture of CARE
7. Establishing a culture of care amongst employers and employees is crucial to fostering co-ownership of WSH. You may recall that a new category called the CARE Awards, short for Culture of Acceptance, Respect and Empathy, was introduced as part of this year’s WSH Awards. To continue promoting the culture of CARE, the WSH Council is also launching a series of WhatsApp stickers that both employers and employees can download and send to their peers and networks to remind themselves to take care and look out for each other’s safety. The WhatsApp stickers, together with other campaign resources, can be downloaded from the campaign microsite.
Upcoming Events and Supplementary Campaigns
8. Today’s National WSH Campaign launch also sets the stage for the WSH Council’s year-long engagement efforts. We can look forward to three supplementary campaigns this year:
• First, as Slips, Trips and Falls (STFs) remain the top cause of non-fatal injuries, we will once again call on industries to make an STF resolution, that is to take time to check, clean and share, in June. Topics focused on STF prevention will also be incorporated within numerous industry-driven events.
• Next, with the continued spotlight on mental health, promoting mental well-being is an emerging priority. We were heartened by the warm reception towards our inaugural Workplace Mental Well-being Campaign last year, and we will continue to make available resources to equip workplaces with the necessary knowledge and skills to enhance employees’ mental well-being. These will be unveiled at this year’s campaign, scheduled during the second half of the year.
• Lastly, as machinery-related incidents were another leading cause of major and minor injuries, we will continue to urge companies to prevent such hand and finger injuries at the next Safe Hands Campaign, planned for the first quarter of 2023.
Conclusion
9. While we participate in the various celebratory activities lined up today, I urge everyone to remain vigilant and continue to take precautionary measures as workplace injuries tend to rise around this time of the year. It is important for us to ensure that everyone remains safe and healthy at work. Thank you for joining me today and I wish everyone a good workout later.