HSE Committee Meeting - What are the requirements?

Under the Workplace Safety & Health (Workplace Safety & Health Committees) Regulations 2008, factories with 50 or more persons (excluding persons who carry out any work which is of a temporary nature & is not ordinarily carried out in the factory) is required to establish a Workplace Safety & Health Committee in the company.

Chairman
The occupier is responsible to set up this committee & appoint a competent person as a chairman.

Secretary
The occupier is also responsible to either appoint the WSH officer as the secretary or if no WSH Officer employed, a competent person from the committee shall be appointed.

Committee Members
The committee members shall consist of employees who are representatives of person at work in the factory & of the management of the factory.

Frequency of the meeting
The Meeting shall be conducted not less than once every month. It shall be conducted during working hours.

Matter to be discussed at meeting
Only matters relating to the safety & health of a person at work in the factory shall be discussed.

Functions of the committee meeting

1. To conduct a general inspection of factory & discussed in the meeting.
2. To report all findings in the report & rectify the matters before the next meeting.
3. To conduct inspection of factory after accident or dangerous occurrence.
4. Assist in organizing safety promotions.

Minutes of the meeting

The minutes of the meeting shall be furnished to the occupier & to all committee members. The minutes shall be kept for a period of 3 years & shall be produced whenever the Commissioner request.

Powers of the WSH Committee

The WSH Committee have the power to do all or any of the following;

1. Enter, inspect & examine the factory at any reasonable time;
2. Inspect & examine any machinery, equipment, plant, installations or article in the factory
3. To inspect on the factory records, certificates, notices & documents kept or required under the Act, including other relevant document and to inspect & examine any of them.
4. To examine & inquire of the factory or any person at work in that factory as may be necessary to execute its duties.
5. To access the level of noise, illumination, heat or harmful or hazardous substances in the factory and the exposure levels of person at work.

Offence

Anyone who contravenes the regulations shall be fine not exceeding $10,000 for a first offence & not exceeding $20,00 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both for 2nd & subsequent offender.

iReport - What are the criterias?

Under the Workplace Safety & Health (incident Reporting) Regulation, it is the responsibility of an employer to report accidents, dangerous occurrences & occupational disease at workplaces. Hence, the definition of the above 3 incidents play an important role.

1. Workplace Accident - A workplace accident is any accident occurring in the course of a person's work.
2. Dangerous Occurrence - A dangerous occurrence is any serious workplace incident which does not involve the death or injury of any person at work.
3. Occupational Disease - Anyone of the 31 Occupational Diseases stated in the Regulation.

After determine that the incident happened belongs to one or more of the 3 types of incidents, you may need to take note of the following guideline.

Workplace accident resulted in death of an employee.

• Who to report - The employer of the deceased worker
• Timeline - As soon as reasonably practical / Submit report within 10 days of the accident

Workplace accident results in employee with more that 3 consecutive days of medical leave or hospitalized for at least 24 hrs.

• Who to report - The employer of the injured worker
• Timeline - Submit report within 10 days of the accident

Workplace accident which involved a self-employed person or member of public & results in death or treatment in hospital for the injury.

• Who to report - The occupier of the workplace
• Timeline - As soon as reasonably practicable / submit report within 10 days of the accident

A dangerous occurrence.

• Who to report - The occupier of the workplace
• Timeline - As soon as reasonably practicable / submit report within 10 days of the accident

An occupational disease.

• Who to report - The employer of the person with the disease & the doctor who diagnosed the disease
• Timeline - Employer Submit the report within 10 days of the receipt of written diagnosis / Doctor - Submit the report within 10 days of the diagnosis

A subsequent death of an employee as a result at the workplace.

• Who to report - The employer
• Timeline - As soon as reasonably practicable

For submission of accident & incident which required notification "As soon as reasonably practicable", you are required to notify the Commissioner of Workplace Safety and Health either by telephone (6317 1111) or fax (6324 7572). The following information shall be furnished in the notification;

• Date & time of the accident/incident
• The place of the accident/incident
• Name & identification number of the deceased / injured
• Name of the employer or occupier
• Brief description of the accident / incident
• Nature & severity of the injury
• The name & contact of the person who report the accident / incident

For iReport, you can visit the website at the following web address - http:www.mom.gov.sg/iReport. Before you attempt to report online, you may wish to prepare the following information to assist in expediting the reporting.

• Particulars of the incident, including what happened, where it happened and how it happened.
• Particulars of the injured or deceased.
• Particulars of the employer, including the employer's name, organization identification number (ACRA number)
• Particulars of the occupier of the incident premises including the occupier's name and organization identification number (ACRA number)

All records shall be kept for a minimum of 3 years.

The penalty for failure to report to the Ministry shall be subjected to the following sentence;

• First offence - Fine of up to $5,000
• Subsequent offence - Fine of up to $10,000 or a jail term of not more than 6 months or both.

False notification or report will be liable to a fine of up to $5,000 or a jail term of not more than 6 months or both.

Updates - New requirements for Metalworking Safety Orientation Course (MSOC)

Attention to all RSOs who are working in the Metalworking Industry. I'd just attending the Metalworking Industry Briefing this afternoon at HDB Hub & was informed that there will be some critical changes to the current training certification for workers in Metalworking Industry. It will be most beneficial that we, as a Safety Professionals know these new guidelines well & are able to brief our management accurately.

Current Requirement till 30 Sep 2009
Workers performing manual labour relating to the manufacturing of basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery/ equipment, as well as electrical machinery and apparatus are required to attend and pass the Metalworking Safety Orientation Course (MSOC) to ensure that they attain key knowledge on working safely. Employers are also expected to have their workers re-certified in MSOC every three years.

Effective from 1st Oct 2009

(a) Issuance of Work Permits

New foreign workers are required to attend the MSOC and sit for the test within 14 calendar days of arrival in Singapore before applying for the issuance of their work permit. Workers are required to pass the MSOC within 3 months of their arrival in Singapore or their work permits will be revoked.

(b) Renewal of Work Permits

The remaining validity period of the MSOC certificate must be more than a month at the point of work permit renewal.

(c) Re-certification of MSOC

Workers can sit for a re-certification test without attending the MSOC again. If they fail the test on the first try, they will need to attend MSOC and pass a re-test. - For the first 6 years of employment in the metalworking industry, workers are required to pass the MSOC test every 2 years. - For workers who have worked 6 years or more, they are required to pass the test every 4 years.

I'd extracted all these information form the WSHC website. Shall you need to know more about this new requirements, please feel free to click HERE to view the Guide on the new requirements for Metalworking Safety Orientation Course.

Don't be complacent, Work Safe