1. A total of 18 contractors were honoured for their excellent Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) practices in the past year at the 18th Annual Safety Award Convention (ASAC) today. Samsung C & T Corporation was presented with the top award, and the LTA Contractors Challenge Shield, for its work on Contract T213/ Thomson - East Coast Line Caldecott station.
2. Held at the Singapore Polytechnic Convention Centre, this year’s ASAC’s theme “Near Miss - Report It, Act On It” emphasises the importance of near miss reporting as well as correction and prevention of similar occurrences.  A near miss could result in loss through personal injury, damage to assets or environmental harm.
3. LTA Chairman Mr Chan Heng Loon Alan said: “To develop a healthy culture of near miss reporting, there has to be a change in mind-set. Near miss reporting should not be associated with punishment or reprimand. Instead, it is to be taken as a learning opportunity to correct substandard behaviours and practices.”
4. Lessons learned from near misses are shared with contractors and LTA project teams through various platforms. These include the various LTA contractors’ safety forums and the monthly project safety committee meetings. The lessons learnt are also communicated by the contractors to their workers via platforms such as toolbox meetings at individual project sites.
5. In this year alone till date, LTA has received many near miss reports with varying degrees of severity.  LTA hopes that through the active sharing and learning of lessons from these near misses, contractors are able to elevate their WSH standards on sites to ensure a safer and healthier worksite.
6. Some examples of how near miss reporting has helped improve WSH on the worksites include the reporting of workers carrying out hot works whilst being unaware of flammable hazards in their surroundings. Other examples include the identification of potential tripping hazards that could have resulted in falls.

About ASAC

ASAC was inaugurated in 1999 to recognise contractors who have been proactive and successful in promoting WSH management practices at their worksites, ensuring high health, safety and welfare standards of the workers, and giving due consideration to protecting the public and the environment.