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CENTRE STAGE Ball Start for Safety Month The National Workplace Safety and Health (NWSH) Campaign 2008, got off to a bouncy start at the Orchard@ Atrium venue on 29 April 2008, with the endorsement of the new WSH Council by 35 industry partners. The partners showed their support for the Council by signing on grey and green balls, the colours of the WSH Council logo. The balls were later used to complete a fabricated WSH Council logo placed onstage with the last ball being placed by the Guest of Honour, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong thus unveiling and launching the new WSH Council and its logo. He also went on to officially launch the NWSH Campaign 2008. A Milestone in WSH Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of the WSH Council, described the launch of the statutory WSH Council as a significant milestone in the WSH landscape of Singapore. PM Lee in his speech said, “Workplace safety systems around the world have shown that better safety outcomes can only be achieved if all stakeholders are fully engaged.” He added that the Council is therefore an important initiative with the broad representation from employers, professional associations and the unions. Elaborating on the three main Council agenda of setting safety standards, building new capabilities and changing mindsets, PM Lee said, “The biggest challenge for the Council lies in its third area of responsibility – outreach, engagement and ultimately, changing mindsets. To bring about a quantum improvement in our safety and health outcomes, every individual must take ownership of safety issues and see this as his own responsibility.” Describing the early efforts by the Workplace Safety and Health Advisory Committee as encouraging with fatality rate hitting an all-time low of 2.9 in 2007 he set a more ambitious target for the Council from 2.5 fatality rate by 2015 to 1.8 fatality rate by 2018. “We should aim not only for as good a safety record as the developed countries, but to have one of the best workplace safety records in the world,” he added. Safety Starts with Me As if echoing PM Lee’s message that everyone has to take ownership of workplace safety issues, this year’s campaign theme was “Safety Starts with Me”. As Mr Lee Tzu Yang aptly described, “Your safety and the safety of all who are around you at work, is related to all that you do.” Targeting to create this awareness in the masses and especially workers, the launch event was followed by a threeday roadshow. Visitors were treated to an array of activities including a 40-foot
CENTRE STAGE container exhibition (see article on page 6) that was unveiled at the NWSH launch event, booths set up by training providers, Singapore Workforce Development Agency, and exciting stage events hosted by the effervescent Y.E.S. 93.3FM DJ Bukoh Mary. Over 3,000 people visited the three-day roadshow and more than 200,000 workers are targeted for outreach when the container exhibition hits the roads and visits over 50 venues in Singapore over the year. Running alongside for the month will be over 60 activities such as conferences, seminars, workshops organised by WSH Council industry partners. This year sees dedicated activities held for the six sectors newly covered under the WSH Act. Events catering to among others, employees in the hotel and food and beverage sector as well as in the healthcare sector have been planned. First Batch of Graduates Another first for the NWSH Launch event was the awarding of certificates to the inaugural batch of over 50 graduates who participated in the improved WSH Officers course under the new WSH Professionals Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSHP WSQ) framework. The graduates had undergone 240 hours of the WSQ diploma in WSH course over a period of six to eight months to earn their qualifications. Also launched was the Professionals Coversion Programme for WSH Officers. The Programme aims to provide a training pathway and opportunities for professionals, managers, executives and technicians for a mid-career switch to become WSH professionals. A Creative Closure Providing a creative twist to the closing cum appreciation ceremony for the partners of the NWSH Campaign on 30 May 2008 was the presentation of the awards to the winners of the Safety@Work Creative Awards. Running into its fourth year, and open to tertiary students, the competition comprises two categories, the poster and the animation competitions. A total of 14 awards were presented in this competition jointly organised by Singapore Technologies and WSH Council in collaboration with the Ministry of Manpower. This year has seen many a first, a new Council, an exciting 40-foot container exhibition, fresh sectors embraced by the WSH Act, eager graduates from a new WSH Course and a challenging target for the WSH Council. These beginnings are harbingers of more firsts to come as the WSH Council rolls out more programmes and initiatives to make Singapore a record breaker in WSH. Deserving Special Mention The NWSH Campaign actively sought and received encouraging sponsorship for its cause. We wish to thank our sponsors and supporters, especially our main sponsors SembCorp Marine and Keppel Offshore and Marine for their valuable contribution to the NWSH Campaign 2008.
Page 1 and 2: Issue JULY 2008 01 S A F E T Y + H
Page 3: STRATEGIC STRIDES WSH Guardian Ste
Page 7 and 8: CENTRE STAGE Handling Chemicals A
Page 9 and 10: FACE TO FACE What made you decide
Page 11 and 12: SAFETY PROFILE 11 Making the Imposs
Page 13: National Workplace Safety and Healt

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