30 workers have died at Singapore workplaces this year

The first half of this year saw more injuries and fatalities in workplaces in Singapore than during the same period of time last year, statistics released by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Institute show.

There were a total of 30 fatal injuries between January and June this year - a 20% jump from the 25 fatal injuries recorded during the first six months of 2013.

The construction sector was the main contributor to these numbers at 57% - equating to 17 deaths - followed by the marine sector with three deaths and the manufacturing sector with two.

Overall, workplace injuries increased by 14% in the period - from 5,547 in 2013 to 6,314 this year.

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"Major injuries" increased to 279, up from 273 in the first half of 2013, as did "minor injuries", from 5,249 to 6,005 in the same period.

Across all the sector, falls were the leading cause of workplace fatalities. However other causes such as being "struck by moving objects" and being "caught in/between objects" also increased.

Lee Tzu Yang, chairman of the WSH Council, urged the employers to help improve these WSH outcomes.

"Despite having put in place various processes and systems,  our workplace safety and health performance for the first half of 2014 has notimproved. Clearly this is not good enough if we want to achieve our vision for 2018," Lee said.

"In addition to proper risk assessment and management, as well as addressing design and other upstream aspects in order to remove the risks, the reduction of injuries and ill health crucially depends on strengthening the safety and health culture at the workplace.

"Good workplace safety and health habits must become part and parcel of our daily lives."

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