One of our lawyers, Muntaz Zainuddin, who was previously working in the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) provided some insight to this.
There are 4 types of workplace accidents that companies must report:
- Any accident that occurred during the course of work, during working hours and as part of carrying out one’s duties irrespective of whether the accident occurred on-site or off-site;
- Occupational diseases;
- Any of the nine dangerous occurrences listed in the First Schedule of the Workplace Safety and Health Act; and
- Anytime that a member of the public is injured or dies as a result of work done.
Reports of each incident must be filed within 10 days of the accident, diagnosis, or occurrence. Where a death has occurred, the Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health must be notified immediately, though the incident report may be filed within the 10 day period. However, minor accidents which attract medical leave of less than 3 days need not be reported.
Companies may file workplace incident reports conveniently via online forms. Failure to report such incidents in a timely manner is an offence which carries stiff penalties of up to SGD 5,000 for the 1st offence and up to SGD 10,000 and/or jail for up to 6 months for subsequent offences. Alternatively, members of the public and companies may also use the ‘SNAP@MOM’ mobile application to report unsafe acts.
