Guidelines today on options before wielding the axe

Guidelines today on options before wielding the axe

MOM list will include flexible work plans and shorter work week

By Jermyn Chow

EMPLOYERS in Singapore must be socially responsible as the economic downturn bites harder, and resort to retrenchment only after all other options have been exhausted.
There are many other alternatives available before the dreaded axe is wielded, Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday.

To this end, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will release a set of guidelines today that will list cost-cutting options available to companies that have excess staff in a time of slowing business.

The guidelines - which are not mandatory - include having flexible work arrangements, a shorter work week and sending employees for upgrading, Mr Gan said.

Though they have been in the works for some time, the move to publish the guidelines comes just days after labour chief Lim Swee Say took DBS Bank to task for failing to consult its staff union and for not exploring other cost-cutting measures before laying off 900 workers.

Speaking on the sidelines of a workplace safety and health event held at The Regent Hotel, Mr Gan said MOM wants to send a ‘very important message’ to employers that they ‘need to take a socially responsible approach’.

He said: ‘We want to help these companies and guide them through the process, so that they look at the whole challenge holistically, and so that they also understand that there are many other options available other than retrenchment.’

He added that in some cases, a company may have to lay off workers to survive, but if this happens, the ministry will work with unions and employers to give the affected people the opportunity to upgrade themselves and find new jobs as soon as possible.

‘We are not just waiting for workers to come to us…but will go down to the companies, design packages and programmes that are suitable for the companies to help their workers.’

Though the electronics and manufacturing sectors have been hit hard, others, like the services industry and the education and childcare sectors, are still hiring.

Mr Gan added: ‘The key is how we can help the retrenched workers transit to these new industries.’

He also gave this assurance to companies which approach the Government, unions or Singapore National Employers Federation for help: ‘We would be very happy to guide them and hold their hand through this process.’

When asked, Mr Gan said the ministry did not have a projection of how many workers would be retrenched during the current downturn, but said that whether it tops the record of 30,000 - in 1998, at the peak of the Asian financial crisis - depends on companies taking ‘responsible actions’.

On who will be hardest hit, he said that the impact will be felt most keenly at middle-management levels and in PMET (professional, managerial, executive and technical) occupations.

This, he explained, is partly a factor of success: The quality of jobs here over the last few years has improved, and many Singaporeans are now in PMET or middle-level management jobs today.

The Good
THIRTY-THREE heads of Singapore’s top construction firms, property developers and construction-related associations have pledged to cut the injuries in their worksites to zero.
To do this, they must establish safety management plans, disclose the number of workplace accidents and injuries on their websites or in publications, and spread the safety message from top management down to the last man on the line, among other measures.

No date was given on when worksites should be injury-free, though a target will be set in 2011, when they review how much they have achieved.

They signed the pledge at the inaugural Construction CEO Summit yesterday, witnessed by Acting Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong and Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council deputy chairman Heng Chiang Gnee.

‘By signing the charter, these CEOs acknowledge that the management’s priorities go beyond traditional business concerns to include safety performance,’ said Mr Gan.

He said that while the Government continues to enforce workplace safety and health regulations, employers and companies had to take ownership.

The pledge comes as a growing number of workers die on the job.

Fifty-two people perished in workplaces in the first nine months of this year, up from 42 during the same period last year.

Construction sites and shipyards accounted for more than half of the deaths.

Construction company Bovis Lend Lease chairman John Spanswick lauded the move, saying that the journey to an injury-free workplace always starts with the man at the top.

‘CEOs need to behave differently before they can expect to make a positive change in their workplaces…they must intervene and take charge,’ said Mr Spanswick, who is also Britain’s health and safety commissioner.

A new set of guidelines on removing risks at every stage of the construction process - modelled after a similar law in Britain - was also unveiled at yesterday’s summit at The Regent Hotel.

But the Design for Safety advisory is not mandatory for companies.

Mr Gan said the 41-page dossier will help contractors ‘eliminate risks at the source’ by ‘factoring in risks and safety considerations at the planning stage’.

For instance, a designer should specify the use of less hazardous materials like water-based paints during construction or design safe access to rooftops to reduce the use of scaffolds and ladders.

On whether the new guidelines will push up the construction costs, property developer City Developments group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong said: ‘Even if there is any cost increase, it should be manageable and marginal.’

The Bad
A SHIPYARD worker drowned yesterday after falling off the scaffold of a vessel docked near the mouth of Sungei Pandan in the West Coast.
The body of Mr Suresh Ramakrishnan was recovered around 4.15pm, almost seven hours after he plummeted from a recently-christened barge.

His body was found without a life jacket and it is not clear if he had been wearing one.

Mr Ramakrishnan is the 10th reported death in the beleaguered shipyard and ship repair industry since June 8 this year. At least 20 other workers have been injured since then.

Mr Ramakrishnan, a Malaysian national in his late 30s, was working on scaffolding at the bow of a crane barge, the Jascon 25. The vessel was berthed in a shipyard near West Coast Park.

It is believed a guard rail on the scaffolding gave way around 9.30am, causing him to plummet into the water.

A safety harness was found on his body, though it is not clear if it had been attached to any form of support.

Workers at Kim Heng shipyard said two co-workers shouted for help after discovering Mr Ramakrishnan had plunged into the water. He is believed to have fallen from a height of about 8m.

Two other workers jumped into the river to search for him, but to no avail.

The police said they were notified at 10.10am - about 40 minutes after Mr Ramakrishnan fell into the water. The Singapore Civil Defence Force deployed divers from its Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team.

Two divers combed an area 20m in radius and 6m-deep before handing over the task to naval divers who later recovered the body.

Mr Ramakrishnan was found not far from where he fell, and without a life jacket.

According to the Workplace Safety and Health Regulations, employers are supposed to ensure that workers at risk of falling into the water are provided with ’suitable life jackets or other equipment’ to keep them afloat.

The Manpower Ministry has asked the shipyard to stop all work on the vessel pending investigations.

Last year, falls accounted for nearly one in every three worker deaths.

Last November, a 38-year-old man working on a container ship fell into the water off Tanjong Pagar after losing his balance. He was not wearing the mandatory safety harness. The coroner ruled the death an accident on Monday.

A ministry spokesman said yesterday that enforcement officers will carry out an islandwide safety blitz on shipyards and construction sites from January.

Additional reporting by Jermyn Chow

Source : Straits Times - 19 Nov 2008

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