Speech by Senior Minister of State Mr Chee Hong Tat at the Public Transport Safety and Security Awards Day 2022

1.     A very good morning to all of you.

2.     I am happy to join you for the Public Transport Safety and Security Awards Day. I would like to start by thanking all our transport workers, our union leaders and our industry partners, our operators for your efforts to keep our public transport and point-to-point transport systems safe and secure throughout the pandemic. 

3.     We are gathered here today to recognise our colleagues whose courage, determination, and resourcefulness inspire us to go further and do better every day. 

Keeping Passengers Safe

4.     First, you keep our passengers and our commuters safe. Every day, millions of passengers and commuters make journeys on our buses, trains, taxis and private-hire vehicles. Millions. To get to work, to go to school, to run errands, to meet their friends, and importantly, to return home to their loved ones. They do so with peace of mind, and the assurance that they can get to their destinations safely and smoothly.

5.     Now, this is no simple feat. Think about it. With millions of passengers and millions of journeys, there are actually many possibilities for things to go wrong along the way. But we achieved overall a good safety record because of your hard work, both individually and collectively as a team.  

6.     On 15 January this year, Mr Tan Wei Fu, who is a bus captain with SBS Transit was driving his bus on Service 48. As Mr Tan moved off from a bus stop, he heard a loud noise. An elderly passenger, who had just alighted from the bus, had lost her balance and had fallen backwards onto the gap between the bus stop kerb and the bus. Mr Tan immediately stopped the bus when he heard the noise and he assisted the elderly passenger. His swift action prevented a potentially serious injury. 

7.     It is this alertness and this care from our workers, going the extra mile and paying attention to these extra details - these are the things that enable us, all of us to keep our passengers safe as they travel with us. 

8.     This of course includes our bus captains like Mr Tan who play a very critical role in ensuring safety of passengers. That is why you are called bus captains, because you do not just drive the bus, you are also in charge of the bus and the safety of commuters and passengers. Buses are large vehicles with blind spots that other road users may not be aware of. Bus captains must also navigate tricky road conditions, while managing many things at the same time with passengers boarding and alighting.  It is challenging work and also a heavy responsibility. 

9.     We are launching a course in late August to reinforce the importance of safe driving among our bus captains, called ‘BC Drive Safe’. It is a one-day course and will be a core module in the Singapore Bus Academy’s refresher training programme, which bus captains will be scheduled to attend over the next three years.

10.   Our BCs will go through case studies, hazard awareness and simulator training. They will also learn how to identify potential hazards posed by other road users and to apply defensive driving to mitigate these hazards. 

11.    So that is the first important area, how to keep our passengers safe.

Keeping Workers Safe

12.    Let me now touch on a second very important area, which is how to keep our workers safe. Besides keeping passengers safe, we must also ensure workplace safety for our transport workers. 

13.    Today’s award recipients demonstrated commitment and creativity in finding ways to do their job safely and efficiently. These have reduced the risk of workplace injuries for themselves and also their colleagues.  

14.    If you compare the data between January and June 2022 versus the same period last year in 2021, the number of workplace injuries for rail operations has dropped from 21 to 15.  However, the number of workplace injuries for bus operations has increased slightly from 54 to 58. I would like to urge everyone to work together to bring down the total number of workplace injuries for both rail and bus, especially for bus operations because the trend in the first six months of this year was upwards compared to last year. But this year is not over, we still have time to work together to try and improve the situation and make things better for our workers.

15.    We must continue to place emphasis on workplace safety, as this is an important part of the commitment to our workers and to their families.  Safety must always come first, and safety must never be compromised.

16.    We have a good example from the team led by Mr Zafarudin Bin Zahid, Engineering Maintenance Manager with SMRT Trains. The team developed a brake hub rebuild table to reduce the amount of time required to perform overhaul work and to allow colleagues to perform the task in a more ergonomic and safer position. This lowers the risk of injury and also reduces the need for physical exertion.

17.    Thank you very much for your contributions to make work processes and the work environment safer. I am very happy we are recognising these ground-up efforts through the new Star Award, and to pay tribute to our public transport workers for your hard work to improve workplace safety. 

18.    It is an ongoing process of continuous improvement. We must never be complacent. If we have done well, we must continue to work hard to keep it up. If there are some areas where we have not done so well, we must come together as tripartite partners to work together to improve and make things better.

19.    I would also like to congratulate our operator award recipients – SBS Transit for bus operations, SMRT Trains for rail operations, and Strides Taxi and GrabCar for Point-to-Point operations. You have done well to go beyond just meeting the minimum operational and workplace safety standards. Congratulations and please keep up the good work.

Keeping the Nation Secure

20.    I have spoken about two important areas, keeping our passengers safe and keeping our workers safe. Last but not least, we also need to keep passengers, workers, and infrastructure secure, including during the pandemic. 

21.    Our Special Commendation for Security award recipients have acted decisively and courageously to protect lives and critical public transport infrastructure so that we can continue to serve the connectivity needs of our people and allow them to reach their destinations safely and securely. 

22.    We can learn from the example of Mr Eric Goh Kian Shiong, Senior Signalling Technician at SBST Rail. On 13 March 2022, Mr Goh spotted and reported a suspicious drone flying above Gali Batu Depot to his supervisor and security colleagues, even though he himself is not a security staff. Fortunately, in this case, the drone operators did not mean any harm. But it was good that we have vigilant workers like Mr Goh to serve as our first line of defence against such threats as are. not sure if it is a friendly drone or a hostile drone, so it is important to stay vigilant. 

23.    We can also learn from Mr Amnur Bin Sanusi, bus captain with SBS Transit. During a routine bus sweep check at the end of a revenue trip at HarbourFront Bus Interchange on 4 April 2021, he found a bag containing an airsoft pistol left behind by a passenger on the bus. He immediately reported it to his Bus Operations Control Centre and interchange staff. The Police was activated, and they arrested the passenger when he returned to claim the lost bag. Mr Amnur’s action prevented the passenger from re-possessing the airsoft pistol, which is a controlled item under the Arms and Explosive Act. We do not know what the passenger was going to do with the weapon, he may use it to hurt somebody, he may use it to cause some trouble. So it is very important that we took action to prevent this from happening. 

24.    Thank you very much to not just Mr Goh and Mr Amnur, but also to many of our public transport workers out there, for your vigilance in keeping our nation safe and secure.

Working Together for Safer and More Secure Public Transport 

25.    Like our award recipients, we must continue to make safety and security our number one priority. This is why LTA, together with the public transport operators and our union leaders, will set a target of zero fatalities for our public transport sector.

26.    We need all stakeholders to be a part of this collective effort to improve safety. Our tripartite partnership will continue to be a key enabler. Workers must feel comfortable raising timely feedback to their supervisors and management, and know that their feedback will be taken seriously and proper steps will be taken to review the suggestions and where it is feasible, to implement the proposals. Brother Melvin spoke about some of these elements and aspects during his adjournment motion in Parliament recently. 

27.    I am glad to know that Mr Abdul Rahman, a bus captain with Tower Transit Singapore, proactively raised feedback to management on improving safety for cyclists within Bulim Depot. Tower Transit implemented his proposal to provide a dedicated bicycle parking area and also a cycling route within the depot to prevent accidents between cyclists and moving vehicles.

28.    Another example is the Rail Industry Safety and Health Community of Practice, or RISHCOP. This was formed in 2021 to provide a platform for LTA, NTWU and our rail operators to discuss workplace safety and health practices, discuss past incidents and also to establish a set of golden rules for all rail workers. Importantly, these ground-up efforts are spearheaded by our workers and union leaders in their capacity as Safety Champions. 

29.    I am very happy that we can recognise our Safety Champions today. You play a critical role in this tripartite partnership, by always surfacing useful feedback and areas for improvement to enhance safety. You also help to mentor and to encourage your colleagues to work safely, to remind them, and this creates a positive change in the mindset for everyone, each and every worker, to take workplace safety seriously.  

30.    As I mentioned, this is a collective responsibility, and we must all do our part to keep one another safe. I encourage more public transport workers and union leaders to step forward to serve as Safety Champions. I think it is a very meaningful role that you can play. As Safety Champions, you are familiar with ground operations, and work processes. You are also familiar with how to persuade your colleagues to pay attention to safety – I think this is a very, very important part of the overall effort to improve workplace safety for all of us. 

31.    Management will also continue to lend your support by actively involving public transport workers on the ground to identify areas for improvement, and to provide a listening ear and adequate resources for ground-up initiatives to be implemented to improve workplace safety. It takes two hands to clap, so therefore it is very important that we surface ground-up feedback from workers and Safety Champions, and management will also support these efforts to improve safety and by providing a listening ear and resources to implement the initiatives. 

32.    MOT and LTA as government, as regulators, we will also do our part by remaining open to suggestions from operators and from our transport workers to review our rules and policies and also to support new ideas and proposals that can enhance safety and security. This is tripartite partnership.

33.    Let me end by once again congratulating all our award recipients, both the individuals and organisations. The important message I want to leave with all of you is that safety is a responsibility for all of us, and safety must be a number one priority that should never be compromised.

34.    Let us work together to keep Singapore moving, safely and securely. Thank you.