Oral Answer to PQ on Enhancing safety of marine sector

NOTICE PAPER NO. 3611 OF 2025 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 8 APR 2025
QUESTION NO. 7447 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye

To ask the Minister for Manpower what are the Ministry’s plans to review and enhance safety measures in the marine sector, in view of the increase in workplace fatalities in the sector in 2024.

Answer:

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) took corrective actions to address the increase in workplace fatalities in the marine sector last year. In October 2024, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), MOM and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council called on companies in the maritime industry to conduct a Safety Time-Out, with a focus on work activities carried out at anchorages and commercial diving activities. Companies were to review their WSH management systems, reiterate senior management’s focus on safety and refresh workers’ awareness of workplace safety protocols. Companies were also provided with materials on good safety practices and case studies to assist them in mitigating common WSH hazards in the marine sector, such as falling from height and working in confined space.

2 For diving activities, which contributed to two out of five of the sector’s fatalities in 2024, MOM has worked with the Commercial Diving Association (Singapore) to emphasise to the commercial diving community on the importance of adhering to the code of practice for diving at work. This includes ensuring dive personnel are trained and use proper diving equipment. MPA also reminds applicants seeking a diving permit for commercial diving to adhere to the code of practice, amongst other conditions. To ensure compliance, MOM and MPA conducted a joint enforcement operation from September to December 2024, and will ramp up our enforcement efforts this year.

3 While we observe that there has been no further fatality in the marine sector in 2025 to date, we will continue to closely monitor the sector’s WSH compliance
and improve its WSH performance. Together with MPA and the WSH Council, MOM will be engaging senior management of companies from the marine sector to emphasise the importance of building a strong WSH culture. MOM will also be working with MPA to strengthen safety oversight over the marine sector, including reviewing upstream measures to further tighten diving safety standards, especially on the use of proper diving equipment. I urge everyone to play our part in keeping our waters safe and befitting of Singapore’s status as a premier maritime hub.