Opening Address by Mr Simon Kuik at Marine and Maritime Leadership Breakfast

07 Jul 2025 Speeches

OPENING ADDRESS BY MR SIMON KUIK,
CHAIRMAN, WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH COUNCIL (MARINE INDUSTRIES) COMMITTEE,
AT MARINE AND MARITIME LEADERSHIP BREAKFAST,
7 JULY 2025

Mr Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, Chairman, Workplace Safety and Health Council,

Mr David Foo, Dy Chief Executive (Operations & Technology) and Chief Data Officer, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore

Association partners and industries leaders,

Ladies and gentlemen.

Good morning.

Welcome to our inaugural Marine and Maritime Leadership Breakfast, co-organised by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC). MPA has been a close partner of the WSHC, advocating for safer waters, both locally and internationally.
I am glad to see senior leaders from both the marine and maritime companies gathered here this morning. Together, we hold the power and influence to lead and shape the course of safety in our waters.
Let me begin with a brief overview of our WSH performance in 2024.

a. Last year, the marine industries saw 5 fatalities, a worrying increase from our clean slate of zero in 2023.

b. 4 of the 5 fatalities involved works on vessels at anchorage.

c. The remaining one was at a shipyard.

d. This is of grave concern, with the sharp increase over just 1 year.
While the majority of fatal cases last year were out in our anchorage, most of the non-fatal major injuries, at about 15 to 22 incidents per year, still occurred in shipyards. We hence need vigilance for both work at anchorage and in shipyards.
Behind each of these numbers is a life lost, a livelihood affected, and a family that is impacted. They are grim reminders of the high-risk activities inherent in our industries, such as working at height, commercial diving, and confined space operations. It is crucial that we continuously review our safety protocols and engage in ongoing training to mitigate these risks.
In response to the rising number of WSH incidents, we took Immediate and firm actions during the second half of 2024:

a. Between July and August, the WSHC initiated a Safety Time Out (STO) focused on diving-related incidents.

b. A month later, in September, MOM issued an advisory to ensure proper diving certifications and equipment use.

c. In October, together with MOM and the MPA, we held another STO focusing on the broader spectrum of inspections, safety systems, and employee engagement.

d. And wrapping up the year, MOM ramped up their enforcement efforts in December, conducting more inspections at anchorages.
These regulatory agencies actions alone cannot achieve safety performance in the WSH landscape, but we need the WSH Ownership from the marine and maritime industries collectively to (1) lead the change, (2) set the right systems and (3) shape the culture to make our workplace safer.
The WSH Advocate programme amplified this Ownership at Companies level in action. It brings together major service buyers, or “queen bees”, to influence safety outcomes across their supply chains, mostly among the smaller companies. These Advocates embed WSH requirements into their procurement processes, support their contractors through training and by doing business with them, and reward good WSH performances.

ST Engineering Marine is among the pioneer batch of WSH Advocates. And we are reaching out to more “queen bees” in our industries. With more queen bees onboard, we will have (1) collective power to influence, (2) to set and demand high standards for our value chain that creates even broader influence, and (3) to transform the WSH landscape of our industry.
A new Marine Safety Champions (in short MSC) is another program, driven by ASMI, designed to empower its companies to build up their internal mid-level safety advocates, strengthening the WSH leadership competencies of our companies. These MSCs will undergo training over next few years, where they will then assist with their company’s WSH matters such as bizSAFE and Total WSH. The MSCs will also reinforce positive WSH behaviour among their networks and promote knowledge sharing and peer learning.

WSH MI will roll out more industry driven and owned programmes with other marine and maritime association partners, all are now key members of WSH Council MI committee, as our key thrust to advance WSH across the marine industries.
Shape the course of safety in our waters also require multi-agencies and stakeholders collaboration. I am also happy to announce the launch of the New WSH Guidelines on Personal Flotation Devices, developed by the WSH Council in collaboration with MOM, MPA, and industry partners.
Broadly, this set of guidelines:

a. details the roles and responsibilities of employers and workers when working in or near water

b. recommends the use of automatically inflated life jackets for activities where there is risk of falling into waters;

c. guides employers on the selection of the appropriate type of life jackets for their employees best suited for the work activity; and

d. cites good practices on the use and maintenance of life jackets

e. Detail past case studies with recommendations, to prevent similar incidents.
To complement the Guidelines, we have produced a pictogram on the six basic rules for the use of life jackets that workers can easily refer to. These are available for download on the WSH Council website.
In closing, I urge top management to lead the way in driving good WSH performance. This means taking responsibility for outcomes, engaging stakeholders, and aligning good industry practices across the supply chain. Together, we can navigate the challenges ahead and build a safer, more sustainable marine and maritime industry.

Thank you for being present today, and I look forward to our meaningful conversations ahead.