Public Consultation on Proposed Amendments to Wsh Incident Reporting Regulations and Work Injury Compensation Regulations

Ministry of Manpower - Occupational Safety and Health Division

Consultation Period: 03 Sep 2013 - 23 Sep 2013

Status: Closed

Summary

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is inviting members of the public to give feedback on the proposed amendments to the accident reporting requirements under these two Regulations

Detailed Description

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO
(1)       THE WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH (INCIDENT REPORTING) REGULATIONS; AND
(2)        THE WORK INJURY COMPENSATION REGULATIONS

AIM
            The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is inviting members of the public to give feedback on the proposed amendments to the accident reporting requirements under these two Regulations:

            (a)   Workplace Safety and Health (Incident Reporting) Regulations; and 
            (b)   Work Injury Compensation Regulations.
 
BACKGROUND

2.         The reporting requirements under the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations and the Work Injury Compensation Regulations were aligned in the 2008 review of the Work Injury Compensation Act.  Both regulations impose a duty on employers to report to MOM within 10 days:
            (a)   an accident which results in the death of an employee;
            (b)   an accident which renders an employee unfit for work for more than 3 consecutive days or hospitalised for at least 24 hours; or
            (c)   any occupational disease contracted by an employee referred to in the Second Schedule of the WSH Act or section 4(1) of the Work Injury Compensation Act.

3.         Data collected from the accident reports are used for trend analysis on work-related accidents and occupational diseases.  This in turn helps to provide guidance for interventions by both MOM and WSH Council.  Specifically, enforcement inspections and engagement activities are planned annually based on the data collected.  Requiring an accident to be reported within 10 days after its occurrence also allows MOM to promptly address systemic lapses in the industry.  Accident reports involving injured workers are also used by MOM to alert potential claimants of a possible claim under the Work Injury Compensation Act.

IMPETUS FOR REVIEW

Circumvention of reporting requirements

4.         MOM has received feedback that errant employers are bypassing the existing WSH incident reporting requirements by breaking up medical leave of injured employee, such that the medical leave does not fall on more than 3 consecutive days. To deter this practice, MOM proposes to require employers report work-related accidents which render their employees unfit for work for more than three days, regardless of whether these were consecutive days.

5.         Given the importance of the reporting database in reflecting an accurate picture of our WSH performance as well as guiding our engagement and enforcement actions, these practices can inadvertently obscure the actual severity of the accidents that have occurred.  In addition, we will not be able to get an accurate picture of the reality on the ground.

6.         Tracking non-fatal accidents by the absolute number of calendar days absent from work from a single injury is also in line with international practices such as European Agency for Safety and Health at Work’s guidelines and the International Labour Organization’s Code of Practice on the recording and notification of occupational accidents.

Work-related traffic accidents

7.         MOM has traditionally left the management of traffic safety to the Traffic Police, who is the main authority for traffic safety in Singapore.  It was only with the extension of the WSH Act in September 2011, that we gradually adjusted our processes to play a bigger role in traffic safety.  Since September 2011, we have been monitoring work-related accidents through the Traffic Police and the Work Injury Compensation Act reports.

8.         In March 2013, following a spate of high profile traffic accidents, MOM began exploring whether employers should be required, under the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations, to report work-related traffic accidents on public roads (currently, the Regulations explicitly exclude such accidents).

9.         Extending the scope of the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations to include work-related traffic accidents could bring about these benefits:
            (a)   clearer signalling of an employer’s duty under the WSH Act to manage traffic safety; and
            (b)   better tracking of work-related traffic accidents.

PROPOSED CHANGES

10.       In view of the above, MOM has reviewed the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations and the Work Injury Compensation Regulations and would like to propose the amendments indicated below:

PERIOD OF CONSULTATION

11.       MOM hereby invites members of public to participate in this consultation. The consultation exercise will be for three weeks, from 3 to 23 September 2013.

FEEDBACK CHANNEL

12.       We seek your support to ensure that the consultation exercise is productive and focused.  We would like to request that respondents follow these guidelines:

            (a)      Identify yourself and the organisation you represent (if any).  This will help us understand the impact of the proposed changes on different stakeholder groups;

            (b)      Make your comments clear and concise;

            (c)      Focus your comments on how the provisions and features can be improved or be made clearer; and

            (d)      As far as possible, explain your points with illustrations and examples.

13.       Your feedback is important to us.  We strongly encourage you to submit your feedback through this email address: mom_oshd_consultation@mom.gov.sg [Subject Heading: Consultation on proposed amendments to the WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations and the Work Injury Compensation Regulations].  This will enable your feedback to reach more quickly and speed up the process of consultation.

14.       Alternatively, you can also send your comments via any of these methods:

            (a)   Fax           :    6535 6726; or
            (b)   Post         :    Ministry of Manpower
                                          Occupational Safety and Health Division
                                          1500 Bendemeer Road #03-02
                                           Singapore 339946
                                           Attn: Ms Charlene Liew
 
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES

15.       We regret that we will not be able to individually address or acknowledge every comment we receive.  However, we will consolidate and publish a summary of the key comments received, together with our responses, on the REACH website following the close of the consultation exercise.  The summary will not disclose the identity of person(s) providing the feedback, to maintain confidentiality of the feedback received.

DOCUMENTS TO DOWNLOAD

16.       For your convenience, the template for feedback can be downloaded for email submission.

Related Documents:
Annex A - Template for feedback

Annex A - Template for submission of feedback [DOCX, 15 KB]