Despite the challenges of the last few years, it was a time for innovation for businesses that had to learn how to handle adversity. As such, in the past three years, the world has witnessed an incredible acceleration in the advancement of technology and digitalisation. I have seen more businesses pivot and adapt quickly in the last few years than ever before in the decades I have been working with Singapore SMEs.
When compared to 2020, the global digital transformation market is expected to grow to US$1,009.8 billion by 2025 from US$469.8 billion. With that, 91 per cent of businesses are somewhat engaged in a digital initiative with 89 per cent of companies already adopting a digital-first business strategy.
Industries such as F&B and commerce have established a greater online presence and adopted digital solutions for their businesses. For instance, the efficiency of online platforms and increased convenience for functions such as online payment and delivery of food or products resulted in the survival of businesses in these industries.
However, amongst the many industries that have adopted digital solutions to facilitate mundane job functions, an industry that is crucial to the safety and health of employees and workers has yet to hop on the digitalisation bandwagon in Singapore.
A gap in the current risk management process in Singapore
Since 2020, the workplace fatalities have been increasing from 30 in 2020, 37 in 2021 and 46 in 2022, the highest since 2016 when there were 66 workplace fatalities reported according to Channel News Asia. This alarming trend reveals the gap in Singapore’s risk management process resulting in an increased number of workplace accidents.
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As such, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in Singapore introduced the six-month heightened safety period along with other measures such as increased penalties to overcome workplace fatalities. The heightened safety period has since resulted in a decrease in fatalities from 4.5 per month to 2.5 per month.
Nonetheless, the mere fact that workplace fatalities are still occurring, signals the need to improve current risk management processes to ensure no workplace fatalities happen.
Small and medium-sized companies have been identified by MOM as having more workplace accidents when compared to larger organisations. This was mainly contributed by the lack of knowledge and resources when it comes to adopting WSH practices such as obtaining risk assessment certificates and bizSAFE certificates.
The need for a platform that provides a cost-effective yet easy-to-use platform that eases risk management processes for these companies is now especially crucial in Singapore, and more effort needs to be put in place to do so.
The confusion between bizSAFE and Risk Assessment
The Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Regulations in Singapore mandate that every employer, including contractors and sub-contractors, is required to conduct risk assessments where they identify safety and health hazards at workplaces to eliminate the risk of workplace accidents from occurring. Failure to comply with the regulation would result in a fine of up to SG$10,000 for first-time offenders and a fine of up to SG$20,000 or six months imprisonment or both for subsequent offenders.
The bizSAFE programme, on the other hand, is an optional certificate supported by the Ministry of Manpower to increase workplace safety and health capabilities. Previously, only heavier industries such as manufacturing and construction would look to obtain the bizSAFE certificate. However, in recent years, more industries are obtaining the bizSAFE certificate due to the increase in awareness and education about workplace safety.
It is worth noting that the bisSAFE certification process is rather daunting, time-consuming and costly, involving the need to complete a full WSH report based on the paperwork and set requirements as well as often hiring a consultancy firm to help identify the risks associated with the business to complete the report.
While Risk Assessment often stands as a mandatory document to have for compliance, the bizSAFE certification increases a company’s reputation and competitive edge by showing the presence of a conducive and safe working environment.
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Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the high cost and time needed to obtain the certification could deter businesses from doing so. Hence, the question of how businesses could obtain both Risk Assessment and bizSAFE certification without the hefty price tag and time invested remains.
Alleviating the administrative burden
Due to the lack of digitalisation within the risk management industry, businesses face many administrative challenges that could have easily been overcome by leveraging technologies. For instance, a typical challenge faced by organisations is the loss of risk management documentation and the lack of secure storage space.
The usage of cloud technology could help eliminate the chances of losing these important documents while allowing businesses to access the documents anytime and anywhere – providing them with a secure online space to collaborate seamlessly.
To avoid wasting time and money on hiring a consultancy firm to identify the relevant processes and risks related to the business, which usually takes a week, the development of software that guides businesses to select the relevant industry and provides a pre-identified hazard and risk strategy allows for a much faster and cost-effective solution to obtaining the certifications.
Additionally, a key factor that places digital solutions at the forefront is the ability to eliminate unnecessary errors that are inevitable by humans. Doing so would reduce the chances of documents being rejected due to the misinformation provided, eventually decreasing the cost and time that was needed when re-submitting documents.
With the primary focus on educating more Singapore companies about the importance of WSH, we saw the need to develop a platform to help digitalise the process for an easy, quick and cost-effective approach to submitting risk assessment documents.
Through the consolidation of working with clients across 30 industries, we were able to establish an extensive database that is regularly updated to create a list of pre-identified risks associated with each industry. By doing so, we developed a quicker yet more cost-effective approach to ensure that all businesses, especially SMEs, are not disadvantaged when it comes to ensuring that their work environment is safe for their employees.
The need for digitalisation and modernisation in risk management cannot be overstated. By incorporating technology and advanced analytics, Singapore can improve its risk management practices and become more efficient and safe. It is crucial that we work towards bridging the gap between traditional industries and the digital age to ensure that no industry is left behind.
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