Paid to plan

Singapore pays private companies to do risk management, so how hard is it to imagine paying companies to do business continuity planning?

The Singapore Ministry of Manpower has a S$5 million (US$3 million) Risk Management Assistance Fund (RMAF) to pay consultants to perform risk assessments at small and medium-sized construction companies, and then to mitigate ("fix") the identified risks.

The Singapore Ministry of Manpower Web site lists 16 approved consultants to conduct the risk assessments. Two of a company's managers or supervisors must attend a risk management course conducted by an approved trainer, to build up the internal capabilities of those receiving the money. The legislation also offers company executives two incentives to pay attention: up to S$7,500 (US$4,749) to offset a consultant's fees for assessment and implementing risk controls, or a one-year jail term and a S$20,000 (US$12,500) fine for not completing a risk assessment.

Ten people are injured in workplace accidents in Singapore every day (3,399 in 2005, 3,283 in 2004), and about one is killed each week (47 in 2005, 83 in 2004) in "work-related" accidents. Singapore passed the Workplace Safety & Health Act in February 2005 to reduce those numbers; a focus of the legislation is construction companies with fewer than 100 employees.

According to the American Society of Safety Engineers, Asia accounts for almost 60 percent of workplace fatalities--26 percent in China, 11 percent in India, while the other Asian countries including Singapore make up 22 percent. In Singapore, workplace safety standards are better than anywhere else in Asia, but behind those in the West, according to Singapore's Minister of Manpower Ng Eng Hen.

Whether that's true or not, no other country in Asia is spending hard currency to reduce risk at the workplace. That's a significant step beyond handing out fines after someone is killed accidentally, and a major change in approach. More carrot, less stick.