Singapore ratifies ILO convention, strengthens commitment to Workplace Safety & Health 2028 targets

1. Geneva, Switzerland - Singapore’s Minister for Manpower, Mrs Josephine Teo, announced that Singapore would be ratifying the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Convention (also known as C155), with support from the tripartite partners – the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF). The announcement was made at the centenary session of the International Labour Conference, which is taking place from 10 to 21 June 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland.
2. The C155 is a key OSH Convention that requires ratifying countries to formulate, implement and periodically review a coherent national policy on OSH, in consultation with employers and workers. Singapore is the second ASEAN country to ratify this Convention, after Vietnam.
3. Singapore recently launched its Workplace Safety and Health 2028 strategies, to make Singapore’s workplaces among the safest and healthiest in the world.  The target is to reduce workplace fatality rate from the current average of 1.4 per 100,000 over the past three years, to less than 1 by 2028, on a sustained basis.  Singapore’s ratification of C155 strengthens its sustained commitment to the Workplace Safety and Health 2028 targets, and to provide its workers with safe and healthy work conditions. 
4. A tripartite delegation comprising Ms Mary Liew (President, NTUC), Mr Ng Chee Meng (Secretary-General, NTUC), Dr Robert Yap (President, SNEF), union members, employer representatives and officials from the Ministry of Manpower attended the centenary ILC session.  This year’s Conference centred on the Report of the ILO’s Global Commission on the Future of Work, entitled “Work for a brighter future”.
5. In her speech delivered on 12 June, Minister Teo outlined the measures Singapore has taken to support and prepare businesses and workers for the jobs and workplaces of the future.  She also spoke about the Singapore Conference on the Future of Work which was held from 28 to 30 April 2019 in Singapore.  The conference, co-organised with the ILO, aimed to facilitate in-depth discussions about preparing for the Future of Work in the region. 
6. On the sidelines of the Conference, Minister Teo, Ms Liew, Mr Ng and Dr Yap made a joint call on ILO Director-General Mr Guy Ryder.  Minister Teo also had meetings with her foreign counterparts and international organisations.