In the immediate wake of the accident, then secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), C. V. Devan Nair, led the charge in calling for the punishment of those responsible for the tragedy.22 He said that the NTUC would authorise its affiliates to stop work if they feel that employers were not observing workplace safety.23
Then-Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Labour) Fong Sip Chee also expressed anger over the accident in light of the government’s push for more stringent workplace safety regulations.24 There were many others who were also shocked and infuriated, and could not believe that such a tragedy had occurred, as it was the third mishap at Jurong Shipyard since 1972.25 At the time, the shipyard had the worst record of industrial accidents in terms of lives lost. Between 1972 and 1974, 17 workers died in accidents at the shipyard.26
In July 1979, Jurong Shipyard implemented a new safety disciplinary code for workers to prevent a repeat of the Spyros accident. Under the code, regular workers would be suspended or dismissed, while sub-contractors may be fined or barred from the shipyard, if they were found to have broken safety rules. It was the first such code to be introduced in a shipyard in Singapore.27
The government also tightened workplace safety regulations in light of the accident. In September 1979, stiffer penalties were imposed for breaches of industrial safety, including heavier fines (maximum S$25,000, up from S$15,000) and jail sentences (one year, up from six months) under the Factories (Amendment) Act.28 Courses and seminars on basic safety issues and the importance of safety promotion were organised by the Singapore Employers’ Federation (now known as the Singapore National Employers Federation) for workers.