SINGAPORE - They saw zero fatalities in 2008, but last year, these few sectors accounted for 10 out of the 70 workplace deaths.
There were two deaths in the hotels and restaurants sector: An electrocution incident, and a slip-and-trip case that reflected the sometimes poor housekeeping in the sector which makes for wet kitchen floors.
The other deaths after a fatality-free year were in landscape care and maintenance, administrative and support services, and architectural and engineering activities - which had the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council issuing a reminder that attention must also be paid to safety in industries not known to be high-risk.
According to the latest WSH report, the number of workplace fatalities last year rose by 4.5 per cent, the first increase since 2005.
Overall, the construction and marine sectors accounted for the bulk (63 per cent) of deaths last year. In construction, this had accompanied a surge in employment due to the building boom.
In all, 664,000 man-days were lost last year due to serious accidents, up from 643,000 the previous year.
Falls from height was the top incident type. Twenty-four people lost their lives last year as a result, up from 19 the year before.
The second most common type of accident was being struck by falling objects, which cost 21 lives. Crane-related mishaps accounted for 10 deaths last year, double that of the year before.
On the brighter side, the number of work injuries declined by 2.1 per cent, while 2009 saw the lowest number of occupational diseases confirmed since 2004. The latter fell by 45 per cent, which the WSH Council and Manpower Ministry attributed to the drop in noise-induced deafness cases.
To address workplace safety lapses, the ministry will step up enforcement on especial areas of concern, such as falls from heights.
The WSH Council said Singapore was on track to reduce the workplace fatality rate to below 1.8 per 100,000 workers by 2018.
[SOURCE: http://www.todayonline.com]
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