The impact of workplace accidents: victims struggle with debt and change lives

Last year’s injury rate peaked at five years, with an injury rate, fatal and non-fatal, of 396 per 100,000 workers. The construction and manufacturing industries were its two main contributors.

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“This is cause for concern, as all workers deserve to work in a safe and secure environment, and all workers should have the right to return to their homes safely,” said Melvin Yong, deputy secretary general in the National Congress of Unions (NTUC) – a sentiment shared by companies and observers in the construction and manufacturing industry.

And although the occupational mortality rate in 2019 was the lowest since 2004, the trend seems to have reversed in the first months of this year.

Last month, Manpower Minister of State Zaqy Mohamad revealed that more people have lost their lives due to workplace accidents so far this year compared to the same period in 2019, despite the ongoing “circuit breaker” , which means that most workplaces are closed.

There were 14 deaths recorded from January 1 to April 17 this year compared to nine in that period in 2019.

Mr. Zaqy called it a “troubling trend” that reinforced the need for employers and workers to continue their efforts to improve safety and health in the workplace.

Injured workers could experience a loss of future earnings, Yong said, in addition to having to bear additional treatment and rehabilitation costs beyond what their compensation for workplace injuries can cover.

Among foreign workers, there is also the issue of debt.

Before coming to Singapore, most of these job seekers pay a recruitment fee to brokers in their home countries. While the authorities in Singapore establish strict controls on how much local employment agencies can charge the worker, the Ministry of Human Resources (MOM) has said that it has no jurisdiction over the fees charged by the agencies in the issuing countries.

Being disabled causes “immense anguish and anxiety” among workers who feel helpless about not being able to continue making money for their families at home, said Desiree Leong, a social worker at the Humanitarian Organization for the Migration Economy (HOME).

In addition, there are concerns about how they will pay off their outstanding debts and injuries that could worsen if their employers delay treatment, Ms. Leong said. Most of the workers the nonprofit sees, generally fewer than 150 cases a year, suffer back injuries, while others have lost fingers or crushed limbs.

Overseas job brokers generally collect a few thousand Singapore dollars from each worker, HealthServe social worker Yvonne Loo said, although she has complied with some who charged a fee as high as S $ 10,000.

In Singapore, there are almost a million work permit holders, according to official figures from December 2019. Apart from the quarter of a million foreign domestic workers, the rest are typically low-income foreigners working in construction, manufacturing and shipyards.

They earn between S $ 600 and S $ 700 each month, Loo said, and about 20 percent of that amount will be paid for room and board.

By working overtime, Sumon earned a little more: $ 1,200 a month, most of it going to his wife, his unemployed father, and a paralyzed mother from stroke.

But upon entering and leaving Singapore four times since 2012, Sumon said that he had accumulated a total S $ 20,000 debt owed to various employment agencies in Bangladesh, which he paid through loans from banks and friends, and by selling the land of farming and his father’s cows.

He managed to pay off the debt, half of which came from his S $ 16,000 work injury compensation. He was left with S $ 6,000, used S $ 5,000 to start a duck farm business (job prospects in his village are low, especially during this COVID-19 situation, he noted) and the rest to care for his family of five.

DO NOT PAY TO REDUCE COSTS

Injuries in the workplace carry huge costs not only in the life of a worker, but also in the results of a company, noted actors in the construction and manufacturing industry.

The greater the number of injured workers, the greater the costs as companies accumulate work suspension orders and medical expenses, said Dr. Goh Yang Miang, former chairman of the Institution of Engineers, technical committee on health engineering. and security of Singapore.

Employers must also bear the costs of training new workers to replace the injured party, increasing insurance premiums after each injury, productivity downtime with each injury, and legal fees in the event that the worker decides to take legal action instead of seeking compensation for work injuries, said Mr. Yong

To better protect construction workers, MOM is planning to improve the mandatory construction safety course by including experimental elements by 2022.

The course, called “Applying WSH on Construction Sites,” is also available abroad.

However, the Tripartite Alliance said in response to CNA questions that “there are currently no plans for the AWSHCS course to take place abroad.”

Some developers, such as JTC and the Ground Transportation Authority, have already made it mandatory for workers to undergo a safety course that has experimental components before working on their projects.

At the JTC-initiated School of Construction Safety, which is operated by the SCAL Academy (Limited Contractors Association of Singapore), workers undergo an eight-hour class that includes two hours of simulations, which include experience of falling into a well and being electrocuted. .

Participants are assessed after class on their ability to detect safety hazards and protect themselves.

Since its opening last June, 120 companies, or 2,400 supervisors and workers, have gone through the course, an academy spokesman said.

“We believe that workers are better able to retain what they have learned when they experience what it feels like to be injured on the job,” he said.

SAFETY IS PARAMOUNT, BUT IT IS ALSO DIFFICULT TO INSURE

Companies recognized the importance of protecting their workers, but pointed out some of the challenges in doing so.

Most of the time, contractors face tight deadlines, with financial penalties imposed for delayed delivery, said Peter Soh of EPRO Engineering.

Hours are often accelerated to avoid delays, while overtime is unavoidable on many projects, the managing director of the electrical engineering contractor said. This time, the pressure ends up potentially affecting safety performance.

Mr. Soh added that because contracts are generally awarded based on price, some contractors will try to cut costs, resulting in fewer on-site safety supervisors and cheaper materials and equipment.

Dr. Goh added that the newer construction projects are closer to other buildings and facilities nearby, so there is less space in the workplace for workers to maneuver around equipment and machines.

Even if the company conducts multiple safety briefings, employees also have a responsibility to be on guard at work, said Soh, who has 13 employees. Less experienced workers may still lack the safety judgment that develops on the job.

Manufacturers operate in a “highly dynamic environment,” said Singapore Manufacturing Federation President Douglas Foo. Employees, raw materials, and finished products move around production lines all the time.

“Workers themselves cannot be complacent, thinking they have experience in any area and therefore cut corners that can compromise their own safety,” he said.

Rajan Rajgopal, chief executive of Denselight Semiconductors, said the company has spent more than S $ 100,000 on alarms and sensors that alert workers when there is a chemical leak, the main security risk among semiconductor manufacturers. Maintenance costs around S $ 20,000 a year.

The company has to install multiple systems around the manufacturing plant, since a sensor only detects one type of gas at a time, he said, and semiconductor producers use several different gases in their manufacturing process.

While expensive, “it is a one-time upfront cost that is worth it, as even a security incident is more than you want,” Rajgopal said.

For Mr. Sumon, an accident was all it took to change the course of his life.

He started raising ducks because as much as he wants to return to Singapore, he is unlikely to do so as he still cannot do any heavy lifting. He also has other concerns.

“If I come to Singapore, I have to borrow money again. I’m scared (of doing it), “he said.

However, he said, “I miss going to many places, meeting my friends.”

“I am thinking of Singapore all the time.”