Why is work injury compensation insurance important?
Singapore is a small country with no natural resources. Our greatest asset is our people – human capital is essential for businesses to thrive in Singapore.
That is why there’s a strong emphasis on the need for employers to protect their employees wherever the business takes them. Accidents and unforeseen circumstances can occur anytime and often unexpectedly. In moderate to high risk industries such as manufacturing or logistics, any mistake could result in accidents causing serious injuries, even death.
In Singapore, it is compulsory for employers to purchase insurance protection for their employees – all manual workers, and non-manual workers earning S$2,100 or less a month. This is to ensure that they are adequately cared for and compensated if they suffer on-the-job injury or illness. Apart from legal liability from claims, employers are also susceptible to fines and even imprisonment for poor health and safety management at the workplace. Beyond a work injury compensation program, employers are responsible for identifying workplace hazards and ensuring that risk mitigation measures are in place to protect their employees from injury.
Did you know?
The Ministry of Manpower 2019 Workplace Safety and Health Report1 states that there was an increase in overall workplace injury cases from 12,810 cases in 2018 to 13,779 cases in 2019.
Since the start of 2020, there have been several reports of fatal work place accidents including the following:
- The Straits Times, 23 March 2020: SMRT worker dies after accident at Bishan Depot on Monday morning
The Straits Times, 13 Feb 2020: 2 men, including S'porean, die of burns from Jurong Island chemical plant fire3
How can you protect your business?
To protect your business and provide peace of mind to your employees, ensure you have a comprehensive work injury compensation insurance which provides sufficient cover for:
- medical leave wages;
- medical expenses; and
- lump sum compensation for permanent incapacity or death
Chubb Work Guard® offers one of the most holistic work injury compensation solution in Singapore, offering over and beyond the statutory limit requirements for Common Law Limit and Medical Expenses. Additional benefits such as “Non-Occupational Accidental Death and Permanent Total Disablement” ensures that your employees will be taken care of, even if they’re not at work.
1 https://www.mom.gov.sg/-/media/mom/documents/safety-health/reports-stats/wsh-national-statistics/wsh-national-stats-2019.pdf?la=en&hash=6D52E18A099E8E83EA4F8836981F3463
2 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/smrt-worker-dies-after-accident-at-bishan-depot-on-monday-morning
3 https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/2-men-including-singaporean-die-after-suffering-burns-in-chemical-plant-fire-at-jurong
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Disclaimer - The content of the above article is not intended to constitute professional advice. Although all content is believed to be accurate, Chubb Insurance Singapore Limited (Chubb) makes no warranty or guarantee about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the content of this article. Users relying on any content do so at their own risk.
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