SINGAPORE- On 30th Nov 2011, the inaugural Construction Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Convention took place.
It was where the (WSH) Council released key findings and recommendations from the Construction WSH Study on small-medium enterprises (SMEs). This Study is aimed at understanding the existing WSH concerns faced by SMEs in the sector and provide recommendations to encourage good WSH practices.
Commissioned by the WSH Council’s Construction and Landscape Committee, the 10-month long Study has completed its first two phases. The first phase involved focus group discussions with 100 industry stakeholders and surveys with over 1,000 workers. Some key findings and recommendations for SME observations made includes:
1.All SMEs agreed that safety makes good business sense as an incident can cause project delays which will cost the company more in the long run. However, they cited that pricing and resource allocation for WSH measures as well as compressed timelines pose challenges for good WSH outcomes. In addition, they also called for WSH to be considered at the planning and design stage of a construction project.
2. Almost all workers attend toolbox meetings everyday and they understood most of the meeting’s content. More than 6 in 10 workers highlighted that they turn to supervisors for help in WSH matters. About a quarter of workers did not receive training beyond the mandatory Construction Safety Orientation Course (CSOC).
Credits all goes to WSH Council, for full article click here