Sembcorp Marine Ltd took home 24 Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Awards this year, six more than at the last WSH Awards in 2020. The impressive wins in the face of 2021 pandemic challenges and disruptions is a laudable testament of Sembcorp Marine’s hallmark of high standards for standards of workplace safety and health.

Organised by Singapore’s WSH Council and supported by the Ministry of Manpower, the annual WSH Awards are presented to organisations and individuals to recognise their achievements of excellence in workplace safety and health.

In addition to the two WSH Performance Awards (Silver) for Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard and Sembcorp Marine Pandan Yard, the Group received 20 SHARP (Safety and Health Award Recognition for Projects), a WSH Innovation Award and a WSH Supervisor Award.

Sembcorp Marine President and CEO Mr Wong Weng Sun said, “When COVID-19 struck Singapore, the Group took swift and decisive action, implementing our Business Continuity Plan for Pandemics before the announcement of national pandemic containment measures. The roll-out of timely and comprehensive COVID-19 contingency plan, pandemic-related surveillance, rapid response and strategies for infection control across the Group’s facilities protected its employees, customers and all stakeholders.

“I would like to congratulate all Sembcorp Marine employees for not only maintaining stringent workplace safety practices during these unprecedented times, but also for embracing the additional COVID-19 safe management measures to protect each other’s health and wellness. I would also like to acknowledge the support and partnership of our customers, suppliers and all other stakeholders. We share these WSH Awards with them.”

Innovation meets safety

Innovation and safety are core tenets at Sembcorp Marine. Innovation not only enables Sembcorp Marine to augment its technological bench strength and boost its operational efficiency, it allows the Group to enhance workplace safety as well.

One such safety innovation is the Blower Test Box which received the coveted WSH Innovation Award this year. From ideation and planning to fabrication and testing, a team of six employees from the Electrical and Instrumentation department at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard worked assiduously to turn their concept into reality.

The Blower Test Box is a container which can hold a blower – a component of a vessel’s main engine – for testing before being installed. The traditional process of testing a blower running at a speed of up to 3,600 revolutions per minute required four workers while exposing them to noise levels as high as 130 decibels and flying debris. With the implementation of the Blower Test Box, noise levels were reduced by up to 30% while the risk of being hit by flying objects was eliminated. The device also reduces the risk of ergonomic injuries by enabling workers to assemble the blower without bending over for a prolonged period and allows them to adhere to safe distancing measures as only two workers are required.