SMRT Contractors’ Safety Forum to foster closer industry collaboration to enhance Workplace Safety & Health  

1. Singapore, July 14, 2023 – To continually promote and further strengthen a culture of safety and enhance safety standards on its premises and network, SMRT Corporation Ltd held the inaugural SMRT Contractors’ Safety Forum at the Orchid Country Club today.

2. The forum, which will be held annually, brings together key stakeholders, including industry leaders and contractor partners such as Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to share best practices, exchange knowledge and address key safety-related issues and challenges.

3. his safety forum is part of the SMRT-Contractor Safety Community of Practice (COP), which will also be introduced as a platform for regular engagement between SMRT and contractors on the topic of safety and risk management.  As part of the COP, business units of the public transport operator, including SMRT Trains and SMRT Buses, will conduct regular safety dialogues with contractors. These will allow for deeper collaboration and understanding between SMRT and its partners, in our continual effort to strengthen safety and risk management.

4. The SMRT Safety Awards for Contractors will also be introduced in 2024. These awards will be given based on safety performance and safety initiatives to make the workplace a safer and more productive environment for all who work on SMRT’s premises.

5. SMRT will also review and enhance safety considerations in its tender and contract evaluation process to align with the government’s recent announcement to introduce more stringent safety requirements to its procurement tenders to strengthen workplace safety and health ownership.

6. In alignment with this year’s Workplace Safety and Health campaign theme “Reporting Saves Lives”, SMRT will expand its existing internal reporting system to include a channel for contractor-partners to report and/or share feedback on safety-related issues and concerns to promote a greater sense of safety ownership.

7. Mr Seah Moon Ming, Chairman, SMRT Corporation Ltd, said: “SMRT is fully committed to ensuring that everyone in the SMRT Family will believe in “Think Safety, Work Safely, (and) Go Home Safe”. Our SMRT employees, contractors and OEMs can and will work hand in hand to further strengthen existing systems and processes to achieve zero accidents. We want to create a supportive and psychologically safe environment where our workforce is encouraged and empowered to raise safety issues that everyone can benefit from.”

8. Mr William Tan, Chair of SMRT’s Board Safety and Security Committee, said: “Safety demands an uncompromising standard. The aviation, nuclear, and oil & gas industries have far higher safety standards. And I would like to urge all of us, particularly SMRT staff, sub-contractors and OEMs, to learn, apply and adhere to these standards.”

9. The theme of the inaugural edition of the SMRT Contractors’ Safety Forum is “Strengthening SMRT-Contractors Partnership in Safety”. The forum is the latest in a series of initiatives by SMRT to enhance workplace safety culture, practices and standards. These included the engagement of Professor Patrick Hudson, a world-renowned authority on safety management, last year to enhance SMRT’s organisational safety culture.

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