Appendix 4. Prevalence of injured Work Permit holders experiencing difficulties with the existing claim system MOM reported 12,729 workplace injuries212 involving more than 24 hours of hospitalisation or more than three days of medical leave in 2013. TWC2 through its Cuff Road Project (TCRP) provided meals213 for 1,125 Bangladeshi and Indian workers who had been injured in 2013214 and were awaiting the outcome of their injury claims.215 These workers were assisted by TCRP because they were having difficulties with the claims system and were not adequately supported by their employers. As a group, they represented about 8.8 percent of all reported
workplace injuries in Singapore that year. It should be noted that the 8.8 percent considers only foreign workers in the numerator while the denominator covers total workplace injuries among resident and foreign workers. Therefore, the percentage among Work Permit holders with injuries is higher.216 To help provide a clearer indication of the incidence of difficulties among Work Permit holders, we identified the industry sectors where the majority of these injured Bangladeshi and Indian workers were employed and compared this to total injury levels in similar sectors.217 This is shown in the following table and reveals that one in five sought support from TWC2.
TABLE 3: TWC2 Cuff Road assistance levels relative to workplace injuries 1. Number of workers injured in 2013 and subsequently supported by TWC2’s Cuff Road 1,125 Project while awaiting resolution of injury claims. 2. Proportion and number of these workers employed in companies undertaking or contracting to the construction and marine sectors, and in landscaping or cleaning activities.a
90.9% 1,023
3. Total reported injuries in marine, construction, architecture and engineering, cleaning and landscaping, and metal manufacturing industriesb in 2013.
5,089
4. Proportion of injured workers in these sectors supported by TWC2
20.1%
The percentage is based on identifying the industry from company names. This was possible in the majority of cases. WSH Institute, Workplace Safety and Health Report 2013. Major and minor injuries and confirmed occupational diseases by industry. Supplemented by Ministry of Manpower (2016) Workplace Injuries by Industry and Degree of Injury, 2013; Workplace Safety and Health Indicators by Industry, 2013; Confirmed Cases of Chronic Occupational Disease by Type of Disease and Industry, 2013; http://www.mom.gov.sg/workplace-safety-and-health/wsh-reports-and-statistics (accessed 22 November 2016). a
b
Total of major and minor injuries and occupational diseases, excluding deaths. WSH Institute “Workplace Safety and Health Report, 2013”. Table 1.1. 213 TWC2 maintains data on the users of the services provided by their Cuff Road Project (TCRP). For information on the statistics, see “Cuff Road Project 2013: Statistics”, TWC2, 6 April 2014. 214 As there can be a long period between the time of injury and resolution of claims, workers injured in 2013 were used for this analysis. Most of these workers visited TCRP in 2013 and 2014, together with a few in 2015. Similar numbers of workers injured in 2014, 2015, and 2016 have utilised TCRP assistance. 215 Many of these workers were on Special Passes awaiting resolution of medical claims and were experiencing difficulties. They had problems with the system and/or were not being adequately supported by their employers as required under law while they were awaiting case outcomes. There will be some workers in these numbers with injury claims that are ultimately deemed ineligible or who may be exploiting the system. Sometimes workers do this to avoid premature termination especially when large placement fee debts are incurred. 216 If resident worker injury numbers are taken out of the denominator, then the percentage must rise. 217 Even though many of the injuries experienced by the TCRP recipients are associated with companies in construction and marine activities, we could not be sure their injuries would be reflected in the total injury numbers for only these two sectors. We therefore broadened our reported 2013 injury base to include the engineering, metalwork manufacturing, cleaning and landscaping sectors which commonly provide inputs or services to the construction and marine industries. Metalwork manufacturing includes the manufacture of basic metals, fabricated metal products, machinery and equipment, and electrical machinery and apparatus. 212
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