Workplace Safety & Health Officers (WSHOs) are safety professionals who have fundamental knowledge and experience in occupational safety, health, and environmental safety.
WSHOs are primarily responsible for protecting lives and preventing property and environmental damage.
Regulations governing WSHOs have been passed in Singapore by the Ministry of Workplace Safety and Health. In addition to shipyards and factories processing petroleum or petroleum products, WSHOs must be appointed to factories in which building operations or engineering construction are carried out for a contract sum of S$10 million or more, as well as factories employing at least 100 people each.
An individual who wishes to be a WSHO in Singapore must first complete a training course for that purpose, and then have at least two years' practical experience relevant to the work to be performed by a WSHO.
Job Role Description
To promote a safe work environment, the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Officer implements and maintains the organisation's WSH procedures. Conducts incident investigations to identify cases of non-compliance with WSH requirements and organisational procedures. Upon identifying hazards in the workplace, he/she assesses the risks associated with them and reports progress on corrective and preventive actions taken. A VSCC secretary is also responsible for recording the minutes of VSCC meetings.
WSH Officers are required to conduct inspections on the shop floor, in dry docks, and aboard ships as part of their duties. To enforce safety compliance at work, he or she needs to have a degree of physical fitness appropriate to the job requirements, sharp observation skills, and intimate knowledge of WSH regulations. To begin work, the WSH Officer must have a suitable qualification accepted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). They may also need to be registered with MOM.