Introduction
In 2005, the Singapore government undertook a
fundamental reform in our occupational safety and
health (OSH) framework in order to achieve a quantum
improvement in the safety and health standards. Three
principles were established under the new framework:
• Reducing risks at source
• Engendering greater industry ownership of OSH
outcomes
• Higher penalties for poor safety management
A target was set to halve the occupational fatality rate
from 4.9 fatalities per 100,000 workers in 2004 to 2.5
in 2015, and attain standards of the current top ten
developed countries with good safety records.