Written Answer to PQ on BizSafe Certificates Fraud Prevention

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2349 OF 2023 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 7 NOV 2023
QUESTION NO. 5400 FOR ORAL ANSWER

MP: Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) how many cases of fraud relating to the issuance of bizSAFE certificates for workplace safety and health capabilities have been detected in the past five years; (b) whether there is a trend in the number of such fraud cases; and (c) what are the Ministry’s plans to detect and prevent such cases.

Answer:

There is only one incident that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) have encountered involving the forgery of bizSAFE certificates over the past five years. This case is currently under police investigation.

2 MOM and WSHC take a serious view of any misrepresentation or fraud involving our programmes, which may mislead the public, the companies involved and their clients, as well as undermine the standards of workplace safety and health.

3 WSHC had issued a bulletin to alert companies that they should verify their bizSAFE status through the WSHC’s official bizSAFE portal. This portal is the sole authoritative source of information on bizSAFE status. If companies notice any discrepancies, they should immediately contact the WSHC for further verification.