Debated in Parliament on 8 Apr 2026.
Ms He Ting Ru asked the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Ministry has conducted any studies to assess underreporting of workplace injuries, including against healthcare or insurance records; (b) what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of existing reporting channels and whistleblower protections; and (c) whether further enhancements are being considered.
Under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act and Work Injury Compensation (WIC) Act, employers are required to report workplace injuries to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Healthcare records cannot be used to assess the extent of underreporting as doctors are not required to separately maintain records of workplace injuries. Instead, cases of underreporting are detected through our regular checks and investigations into complaints from whistleblowers. The average number of underreporting breaches has been low at about 30 cases annually over the past five years.
As for comparison against insurance records, the iReport system that is used for reporting workplace injuries is the same reporting channel through which all WIC insurance claims are initiated. This streamlined process facilitates employers' timely and comprehensive reporting of workplace injuries.
Workers who suspect that a workplace injury has not been reported can submit a report to MOM directly through the iReport system without fear of reprisal. Under the WSH Act, workers are protected against dismissals or threats of dismissal for reporting to MOM.
Where MOM's investigations uncover workplace injuries that were not reported or reported late, appropriate enforcement actions would be taken against the parties involved, including fines or prosecution. To allow for a more complete oversight of workplace injuries, the reporting requirements were expanded in 2020 to cover all injuries that result in at least one day of sick leave or light duties. To provide a stronger deterrence, the maximum fines for failing to report an injury were also doubled in 2024 to $10,000 for first-time offenders and $20,000 for repeat offenders.
MOM will continue to monitor the reporting trends and tighten our enforcement efforts against underreporting, if required.
PAPERCUTS