Scope and Frequency of Safety Inspections on MRT Train Operators

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Manpower (a) how does the Ministry determine the frequency of its safety inspections of MRT train operators; (b) what is the expected scope of such safety inspections; and (c) whether the Ministry conducts surprise safety inspections on train operators and, if so, where can the results of such inspections be found.

Madam, to foster safe workplaces, employers and workplace occupiers must take full ownership of occupational safety and health standards. They should also take reasonably practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of their workers. This is enforced under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

To ensure compliance and uncover unsafe practices for better deterrence, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) conducts about 16,000 inspections every year. However, due to the large number of workplaces in Singapore to inspect, MOM has to take a targeted and risk-based approach in our inspection regime. We focus our inspections on workplaces with higher risk activities, greater safety concerns and the types of workplaces that have a higher number of injuries. In short, more inspections are conducted for higher-risk activities and fewer inspections for lower-risk activities.

Madam, the vast majority of MOM's inspections are surprise inspections. We do not go around and tell people we are going to inspect you when and how. So, it will be a surprise inspection. However, for some inspections, such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) track operations and depots, inspections have to be pre-arranged. This is to avoid disruption to train operations during commuting hours as well as the need to obtain security clearance to enter the train depots and track areas safely.

A typical MOM inspection consists of a three-step procedure: (a) a site walk-through to assess the safety and health conditions of the workplace; (b) discussion with supervisors and workers on the operating procedures; and (c) review of the companies' key safety procedures and protocols. An inspection report of any identified safety lapses will be shared with the companies for remedial actions to be taken. Depending on the severity, we may issue Notices of Non-Compliances, Composition Fines or even Stop Work Orders.

Findings and learning points from the inspections are shared with the industry stakeholders while preserving the confidentiality of the inspected companies. Sharing of the learning points is to create greater awareness and also to enable more companies to adopt safer workplace practices to improve workplace safety and health conditions.

I thank the Minister of State for the comprehensive answers. Just one clarification. In an answer to my colleague hon Member Assoc Prof Daniel Goh's question last month, MOM said, "Our inspection focus on work at height activities and falling object hazards which were the main causes of workplace fatalities during that period". This is for MOM conducting workplace safety inspections of various train depots. I have also asked about what is the expected scope of such safety inspections.

Can I just clarify with the Minister of State that even the recent incident in March 2016, which did not involve work at height activities and falling objects, will MOM be increasing the scope of inspection for MRT train operators?

I thank the Member for the question, which is a very important one. In the past inspections, the MOM's team actually focused on many areas, including the safety protocols at the workplaces like depots, offices and also include tracks, and things like working at heights, storage of chemicals and some electrical issues. All those inspections had uncovered some lapses.

However, for track operations, they have been found to be quite safe and they did not have any track-related accidents in the last 10 years. Therefore, the focus of the inspections on MRT had been on some other areas which have a higher risk of dangers to workers. That was the reply given to the Member's colleague, Assoc Prof Daniel Goh.

However, after the March 2016 incident where it was found that the safety operating procedure was not followed strictly, we have stepped up more inspections to focus on this area. In 2016 alone, we had conducted six very in-depth inspections. We believe that, together with the MRT management, we have uncovered some unauthorised deviations from the safety procedures. From all these additional inspections, we believe that it will help to increase the safety standards in MRT operations.