Companies Entering and Exiting Business Under Surveillance Programme since 1 January 2023
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the number of companies entering and exiting the Business Under Surveillance (BUS) programme since 1 January 2023, as raised by Miss Rachel Ong. Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng reported that 10 companies have entered the programme and remain enrolled, with an average duration of 18 months before exiting. The programme targets firms with poor Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) records, subjecting them to public tender disqualifications and bizSAFE suspensions. To exit, companies must fulfill outcome-based action plans developed with the Ministry to demonstrate significant improvements in their WSH performance and management. This process involves close engagement with senior management and WSH professionals to ensure the implementation of robust safety systems across the affected companies.
Transcript
35 Miss Rachel Ong asked the Minister for Manpower how many companies have entered the Business under Surveillance (BUS) programme since 1 January 2023 and how many have exited from the programme since.
Dr Tan See Leng: The Business Under Surveillance (BUS) programme focuses on helping poor-performing companies improve their Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) performance through the development and implementation of a robust safety and health management system. Companies with fatal workplace incidents, serious incidents or poor enforcement records and are unable to demonstrate that they can manage WSH properly will be required to enter the BUS programme. Construction companies in the BUS programme can be temporarily disqualified from taking part in public sector construction tenders. A company’s bizSAFE status will also be suspended if it enters the BUS programme and it will not be able to qualify for private sector contracts that may require bizSAFE.
Since 1 January 2023, a total of 10 new companies across industries, such as construction and manufacturing, have entered the programme and are still in the programme. On average, companies will take about 18 months to exit the BUS programme. During this period, the Ministry will engage the company’s senior management and WSH professionals to develop outcome-based action plans to improve their WSH management systems. We will only allow the company to exit the programme after they have fulfilled the action plans and demonstrated improvement in its WSH performance and management systems.