OPENING ADDRESS BY MR ZAQY MOHAMAD,
SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANPOWER,\u00a0
AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SAFE HANDS CAMPAIGN 2022,\u00a0
23 MARCH 2022<\/strong><\/p>\nMr Douglas Foo, Chairman, WSH Council (Manufacturing) Committee
Industry Partners,\u00a0
Distinguished guests,\u00a0
Ladies and gentlemen,\u00a0<\/p>\n
1. <\/span>Good morning everyone. I am glad to be here once again at the annual Safe Hands Campaign launch. Over the years, the campaign has raised awareness on how to prevent hand and finger injuries. It also got companies to pledge their commitment towards a safe and healthy working environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n2. <\/span>I applaud all companies that have made the Safe Hands pledge. I\u2019m heartened to learn that we have more than 900 pledges this year. That\u2019s three times the 300 pledges we received in 2018!\u00a0 A big high \u2013 five to the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, which has partnered the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council in organising this campaign since 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\nIncreasing Focus on the Food Manufacturing Sub-sector\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n3. <\/span>There has been an encouraging reduction in the number of amputation injuries in the last two years for the entire manufacturing sector. There were 41 amputations in 2021, down from 59 amputations in 2019.\u00a0 While we are happy with the reduction, let\u2019s not forget that the impact of hand injuries is devastating, permanent and leads to disruptions, like to the 41 injured\u2019s way of life.\u00a0 Therefore, we can and must do our utmost to prevent such accidents.<\/p>\n4. <\/span>Previous Safe Hands Campaigns focused on the Metalworking sub sector, and we are encouraged to see the reduction of amputations injuries coming down from 25 in 2019 to 15 last year.\u00a0 This year, the Safe Hands Campaign will focus on the Food Manufacturing sub-sector which accounts for the second highest incidents of amputation injuries. There were 11 amputation injuries in the Food Manufacturing subsector in 2019 and this reduced to 9 last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n5. <\/span>Amputation injuries often arise due to two reasons.\u00a0 One, absent or improper guarding which exposes workers\u2019 hands to moving parts of the machine.\u00a0 For this, companies and supervisors play a key preventive role to ensure that machine guarding is properly maintained and not dismantled for convenience\u2019s sake.\u00a0 The second reason involves workers undertaking risky or unsafe actions.\u00a0 Some do so unknowingly as they react by instinct to try to retrieve something that dropped or to clear some chokes.\u00a0 Regardless, such injuries are preventable. Workers not only need to be trained to operate the machine safely, but they also need to be trained on how to react safely to unexpected situations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n6. <\/span>Food Manufacturing is a growing sector. Manufacturers like you introduce Singapore\u2019s brand of quality and safe food products to the world, and we should also add the dimension that they are produced safely. Therefore, I encourage the sector to strive for zero amputations and injuries.\u00a0 It is not only the right thing to do, it is also befitting to the brand name of Singapore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nPromoting Technology-Enabled WSH<\/strong>
\u00a0
7. <\/span>One way that we can prevent accidents is to incorporate technology into work operations. This includes the installation of sensors, which stops the machine when it detects that the safety door is opened, or when the safety guard is removed. Where possible, we could also automate processes to minimise the risk of human intervention and subsequently, potential injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n8. <\/span>Earlier this year, I visited Thong Siek Food Industry Pte Ltd. I saw first-hand how the company had leveraged technology to improve their work practices and reduce the risk of hand and finger injuries and amputations. For example, Thong Siek has an automated mincer machine and automated packing machine, meaning there is no need for workers to interact with potential hazards like moving blades and heavy machinery.\u00a0 Thong Siek has taken the right approach to invest in automation that not only improves productivity, but also looks after the safety and health of workers.\u00a0 This is what ownership is all about.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\nBehavioural Observation & Intervention<\/strong>
9. <\/span>In addition, we can also foster Workplace Safety and Health ownership by influencing behaviours and creating a ripple effect. Whenever we observe unsafe behaviour, we should actively intervene so that we can create a broader company culture that takes Workplace Safety and Health seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n10. <\/span>I am pleased to announce the launch of the Behavioural Observation and Intervention video today. The video, which features Cameron Singapore Pte Ltd, Falkcon Interior Pte Ltd, and Thong Siek Industry Pte Ltd, showcases how these companies promote safe and healthy work behaviours. It serves as a reminder that everyone, from the top management down to every last worker, should look out for one another\u2019s safety and health. The video will be available on the WSH Council\u2019s website, and I highly encourage everyone to watch and share it.\u00a0<\/p>\nConclusion<\/strong>
11. <\/span>Once again, I thank you for being present at today\u2019s launch of the Safe Hands Campaign 2022. Let\u2019s work hand in hand to take care of our workers\u2019 safety and health. May you have a very fruitful session ahead.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
23 Mar 2022
Speeches
OPENING ADDRESS BY MR ZAQY MOHAMAD,SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANPOWER,\u00a0AT THE LAUNCH OF THE SAFE HANDS CAMPAIGN 2022,\u00a023 MARCH 2022 Mr Douglas Foo, Chairman, WSH Council (Manufacturing) CommitteeIndustry Partners,\u00a0Distinguished guests,\u00a0Ladies and gentlemen,\u00a0 1. Good morning everyone. I am glad to be here once again at the annual Safe Hands […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"dipi_cpt_category":[],"class_list":["post-368053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-speeches"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=368053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368053\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=368053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=368053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=368053"},{"taxonomy":"dipi_cpt_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/able-alert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/dipi_cpt_category?post=368053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}