Fifty organisations have been recognised by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for their outstanding workplace safety, health and environmental management practices at the 26th Annual Safety, Health and Environmental Awards Convention (ASAC).
2. Held today at Republic Polytechnic and graced by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Transport & Sustainability and the Environment, the event affirms LTA’s commitment to improving workplace safety and health (WSH) while safeguarding the health and safety of the workers.
3. The top award, the LTA Contractors Champion Shield, was awarded to Hwa Seng Builder Pte Ltd for its works to build commuter and road infrastructure at Hillview, Dairy Farm and Tuas. In total, 71 awards were presented, four more than last year, reflecting the increase in projects. Please refer to Annex A for the full list of 2024 winners across 17 award categories.
Progress towards Zero Accident: A Key Focus
4. Construction works are becoming more complex and are expected to intensify as we expand our land transport infrastructure. To focus our efforts to maintain high safety and health standards for workers, LTA and its industry partners launched the Zero-accident Action Plan 2.0 (ZAP 2.0) in April this year. Under ZAP 2.0, contractor partners will adopt various initiatives to enhance worksite safety.
i. Firstly, to strengthen supervision of workers, contractor partners will establish a competency framework and assessment for supervisors, to better equip them to identify safety risks and carry out mitigation measures.
ii. Secondly, to encourage safety practices at the individual level, contractor partners will put in place reward and improvement systems for workers to reward good practices and deter risky behaviour.
iii. Thirdly, to improve workers’ knowledge on WSH best practices, contractor partners will enhance programmes for new workers and assign them experienced buddies who speak the same language. LTA also introduced a helmet sticker for new workers on-site to allow other workers to easily identify and assist them where necessary. Please refer to Annex B for photos of the “new worker” identification sticker. Additionally, LTA will disseminate bite-sized safety videos through Telegram to further raise workers’ safety, health and environmental awareness.
Driving workplace safety and health through innovation
5. Adopting innovative solutions can also play a role to promote good WSH performance. LTA recognises contractors’ use of such advancements through the Construction Safety Innovation Award.
6. Sato Kogyo (S) Pte. Ltd. was awarded the Construction Safety Innovation Award for the use of connectors that securely hold steel plates in place to ensure safe and smooth access for heavy vehicles. China Communications Construction Company Limited (Singapore Branch) was recognised for its Marine GPS Tracker, a real-time precise location tracking of personnel at marine sites to ensure accountability and enable swift evacuation in case of an emergency. Please refer to Annex C for photos of the steel plate connectors and Marine GPS Tracker.
Continued focus on environmental management initiatives
7. LTA’s efforts to promote sustainability and encourage good environmental management practices saw Taisei-CSCEC Joint Venture (JV) and Daewoo-Dongah JV awarded the Environmental Sustainability Innovation Award for their use of innovative solutions to reduce noise levels and carbon emissions from construction machinery.
8. Taisei-CSCEC JV was recognised for two innovative solutions: i) a battery-powered electric excavator, which produces zero on-site carbon emissions compared to conventional diesel-powered excavators; and ii) an Active Noise Reduction Device that mitigates noise from the engines of heavy machinery.
9. Daewoo-Dongah JV was lauded for the use of “HUSHTEC” noise control attachment for hydraulic breakers to reduce the perceived noise from hacking works by 20 per cent. Please refer to Annex D for photos of these innovative solutions.
About ASAC
The 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 workers, and giving due consideration to protecting the public and the environment.
Annex A: Full List of 26th ASAC Awardees
Annex B: Photo of New Worker Sticker
Annex C: Photo of Steel Plates Connectors and Marine GPS Tracker
Annex D: Photo of Battery Powered Electric Excavator, “HUSHTEC” and Active Noise Reduction Device
