WSHA to cover all workplaces from 1st Sept 2011

Under the Workplace Safety & Health Act of 2006 which replaces the Factories Act, “workplace” means any premises where a person is at work or is to work, for the time being works, or customarily works, and includes a factory.

Under this Act, employers must manage risks at work while employees must adhere to safe work practices.

Roles and responsibilities:

Under the Act, employees have a duty to keep your workplace and colleagues safe.

You should:
• follow safety and health procedures at your workplace;
• not endanger yourself and your colleagues;
• not tamper with safety devices or perform willful or reckless acts;
• report unsafe work conditions, behaviours and workplace incidents (regardless of whether an injury takes place); and provide suggestions to improve safety and health at work.
 

Under the Act, employers are required to ensure the safety and health of every one of their employees. Employers should:
• remove or control risks at their workplace;
• maintain a safe work environment;
• make sure that safety is maintained in all equipment used at the workplace;
• develop plans for dealing with emergencies; and
• provide employees with clear plans and resources to keep their workplace safe.
 

To help you fulfill your obligations under the Act, read on for more information on risk management and incident reporting.

Workplace Safety and Health Act

Excerpt from MOM website

The Workplace Safety & Health Act: What it covers

The Workplace Safety and Health Act is an essential part of the new framework to cultivate good safety habits in all individuals so as to engender a strong safety culture in our workplace.It requires stakeholders to take reasonably practicable measures to ensure the safety and health of workers and other people that are affected by the work being carried out.

The Occupational Safety & Health framework

The three guiding principles that underpin the new Occupational Safety & Health framework are:

1. Reducing risks at source by requiring all stakeholders to eliminate or minimise the risks they create;
2. Instilling greater ownership of safety and health outcomes by industry; and
3. Preventing accidents through higher penalties for poor safety management

About the Workplace Safety & Health Act

The Workplace Safety and Health Act is an essential part of the Workplace Safety and Health framework. The Act has four key features:

1. It places the responsibility for workplace safety on all stakeholders along lines of control at the workplace
2. It focuses on Workplace Safety & Health systems and outcomes, rather than merely on compliance
3. It facilitates effective enforcement through the issuance of remedial orders
4. To prevent accidents at the source, it issues higher penalties for non-compliance and risky behaviour.

What the Act covers:

1. Workplaces covered by Workplace Safety & Health Act
2. Responsibilities of Stakeholders
3. Hazardous Substances
4. Machinery & equipment