The Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006 is an act issued by the Republic of

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. It addresses requirements for safety and health in workplaces, and replaced the Factories Act as of 1 March 2006.

The Occupational Safety and Health Framework

The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) framework aims to cultivate good

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

habits in all individuals, so as to create a strong

safety culture Safety culture is the collection of the beliefs, perceptions and values that employees share in relation to risks within an organization, such as a workplace or community. Safety culture is a part of organizational culture, and has been describe ...

at the

workplace A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...

. The new framework is guided by the following principles: * Reducing risks at the source by requiring all stakeholders to eliminate or minimise the

risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...

s they create; * Instilling greater ownership of safety and

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

outcomes within the industries; and * Preventing accidents through higher penalties for compromises in safety management.

The Workplace Safety and Health Act

The Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) is the key legislation affecting the principles of the OSH framework. The WSHA emphasises the importance of managing Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) proactively, by requiring stakeholders to take reasonably practicable measures that ensure the safety and health of all individuals affected in the course of work. The WSHA replaces the Factories Act. The key reforms under the WSHA include: * Allowing for a gradual increase in scope to cover all workplaces; * Assigning responsibilities to a range of stakeholders at the workplace along lines of control; * Focusing more on WSH systems and outcomes; * Providing for more effective enforcement through the issuance of "remedial orders"; and * Providing for higher penalties for non-compliant and risk-taking behaviour, to prevent accidents at the source.

Workplace Safety and Health Act Subsidiary Legislation

* WSH (Workplace Safety and Health Officers) Regulations * WSH (General Provisions) Regulations * WSH (Construction) Regulations 2007 * WSH (First Aid) Regulations * WSH (Incident Reporting) Regulations * WSH (Risk Management) Regulations * WSH (Exemption) Order * WSH (Composition of Offences) Regulations * WSH (Transitional Provision) Regulations * WSH (Offences and Penalties) (Subsidiary Legislation under Section 67(14)) Regulations * WSH (Registration of Factories) Regulations 2008 * WSH (Shipbuilding and Ship-repairing) Regulations 2008 * WSH (Workplace Safety and Health Committees) Regulations 2008 * WSH (Abrasive Blasting) Regulations 2008 * WSH (Safety and Health Management system and Auditing) Regulations 2009 * WSH (Confined Spaces) Regulations 2009 * WSH (Noise) Regulations 2011 * WSH (Medical Examinations) Regulations 2011 * WSH (Operation of Cranes) Regulations 2011 * WSH (Scaffolds) Regulations 2011 * WSH (Work at Heights) Regulations * WSH (Asbestos) Regulations 2014 * WSH (Explosive Powered Tools) Regulations 2009 * WSH (Design for Safety) Regulations 2015 * WSH (Major Hazards Installations) Regulations 2017

References

External links

* {{Occupational safety and health 2006 in law Singaporean legislation Occupational safety and health law