HEALTH AND SAFETY

2022 remained challenging for the construction sector due to tight project deadlines arising from disruptions caused by COVID-19 restrictions. CDL and our partners have been working together to ensure Workplace, Safety and Health (WSH) practices are upheld and improved. In line with our corporate Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Policy established in the early 2000s, interim targets have been established and reviewed quarterly to keep track of our EHS performance, ensuring consistently high EHS standards. CDL continues to be recognised as a long-serving bizSAFE Mentor.1 In 2022, we completed our surveillance audit and continue to be certified under the ISO 45001 occupational health and safety management system standard. We will continue to leverage industry best practices to ensure that occupational health and safety is maintained at its highest levels.

CDL’s Approach to EHS Risk Management

CDL prioritises the health and safety of our workers at our construction sites and managed buildings. Although these workers are not direct hires of the company, they are protected under CDL’s stringent health and safety management policies and procedures.

  • CDL employees are represented in the EHS Working Committee through their department representative. This opens a platform for employees to highlight EHS issues and concerns to the EHS department. The committee convenes at least once annually to discuss and review CDL’s approach to health and safety management, with regular communication via email.
  • EHS Working Committee members undergo risk management training to lead risk assessments for their respective operations and attend refresher sessions periodically to stay abreast with new developments.
  • In 2022, members completed a training series under the “Sustainability in Singapore” programme to spearhead behavioural change campaign within the organisation.2

HAZARD IDENTIFICATION, RISK ASSESSMENT AND RISK CONTROL
  • 100% of our managed buildings and construction sites as well as our corporate office undergo hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control exercises, in line with ISO45001 management system requirements and local legislation.
  • Trained EHS Working Committee members lead exercises in their departments on routine and non-routine activities, conduct cross departmental reviews and recommend risk mitigation methods that commensurate with hierarchy of controls in consultation with the EHS department. The process provides clear steps to reduce and eliminate identified hazards such as slips, trips and falls.
  • Our safety and precautionary measures are subject to regular risk assessment reviews to ensure alignment with industry best practices.

RESPONDING TO INCIDENTS
  • Conducts periodic risk control reviews and activate ad-hoc reviews whenever there are organisational changes and occurrence of incidents or employee feedback.
  • Safety of our employees takes priority. We have well-established incident investigation and reporting procedures to take prompt actions for health and safety incidents.
  • Employees are frequently reminded not to engage in unsafe work and practices and to report unsafe observations to their departments’ EHS representatives or the EHS department to resolve issues swiftly and effectively. This drives safety enhancements in the workplace and ensures a safe space for reporting.

TRAINING
  • Organises annual employee WSH awareness workshops and trainings to educate on occupational health and safety issues which aim to help employees gain a better understanding of current and predicted risks applicable to their work activities.
  • Employees are also provided with quarterly reminders on relevant health and safety topics like Singapore’s National WSH Campaign Workout 2022 and mental health. On 1 April 2022, two EHS Awareness webinars were conducted for 125 CDL staff members by an experienced WSH consultant who shared latest industry updates and ISO14001 and ISO45001 best practices and Ministry of Manpower (MOM)’s National Health and Safety Statistics, which was analysed against CDL’s WSH performance. The session concluded with a review of CDL EHS objectives, policies, targets and case studies.
  • Launched ‘We Care’ campaign in 2H 2022, which aims to promote proper use of office facilities and improve sound privacy during virtual meetings to reduce noise generated within the open offices.

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
As an employer that recognises the importance of a conducive and supportive ecosystem for families, we have also adopted Singapore’s ‘Made for Families’ brand mark. We offer family-friendly workplace policies that include:

  • Flexible Work Arrangement (Flexi Time, Flexi Place, Flexi Load).
  • Family friendly amenities at the workplace
  • Nursing room located at our offices such as CDL HQ at Republic Plaza for new mothers
  • Childcare leave for employees with children under the age of 12 years
  • Family event leave for all employees to care for family members
  • Family bonding initiatives and extension of staff benefits to employees’ family members
  • Regular Sports and Recreational activities: Our team of health and well-being champions from different departments regularly evaluate and plan a variety of programmes, catering to our multigenerational workforce.
  • Regular virtual programmes, focusing on mental and physical health are provided to support staff when they are working remotely. These complimentary programmes cater to staff from different age groups, interests, and fitness levels, encouraging staff to adopt healthy lifestyles and balanced diets.
  • Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) provides support for employees and family members on issues concerning work, family matters, and interpersonal relationships. Employees can be assured of confidentiality when they call the EAP hotline manned by a third-party psychologist.
  • Human Resource initiatives: GET Conference January 2022, quarterly Employees’ Holistic Well-being activities such as Health Bazaar, Family at the Movies, Cyber-Wellness Parenting Talk, Mobile Shoulder Massage, Essential Oil Soap Making Workshop, and Movie Night.
  • Staff-led activities include ESG Webinars on health-related topics such as hypertension, artery and heart health, Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS) Bowling, Don’t Say Bo Jio sessions, Lunar New Year Challenge, Assisi Fun Day, National Steps Challenge, Christmas Dinner, and Singapore Exchange (SGX) Bull Charge Charity Run 2022.

Total Workplace Safety and Health at Corporate Office

CDL places occupational safety and health at the forefront of all our business processes. Since 2003, we have maintained our OHSAS 18001 certification that demonstrates our commitment to a holistic occupational health and safety management system. In March 2020, OHSAS 18001 was migrated to the latest ISO 45001 standard.3 It provides robust guidance for our integrated EHS Management System that covers 100%4 of Singapore key operations.

In 2022, there were no fatalities, high-consequence injury5, major injury, dangerous occurrences and occupational disease involving our employees at our corporate office. There was one reportable injury6 (fall) involved CDL Corporate Office staff.

CDL proactively tracks and takes accountability for reportable incidents to help raise awareness on the importance of a safe and healthy workplace. In 2022, we continued to promote a more holistic safety culture among our employees. Staff were encouraged to share feedback, near-misses and other issues related to health and safety with our EHS Committee.

Absentee rates* based on medical leave taken by all CDL HQ staff are as follows:

FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022
Absentee rate (% of total
workdays scheduled)		 1.9% 1.5% 1.3% 2.3%
* Absentee rate (AR): It is based on the total number of days lost due to absenteeism of any kind, not only as a result of work-related injury or disease. This includes individual sick days due to minor illnesses (e.g. the common cold, fevers, and influenza) as well as personal days taken for undisclosed reasons. It does not include scheduled or permitted absenteeism such as holidays, study time, maternity or paternity leave, etc.
* Absentee rate calculation: [Number of absentee days in the accounting period / Total days scheduled to be worked in the accounting period] x 100

 

Notes (applicable to the other safety performance charts):
• National average figures are the annualised workplace injury rate figures published in Workplace Safety and Health National Statistics Report, January – June 2022
• LTIFR: Lost-Time Injury Frequency Rate (number of lost time injuries per million manhours worked)
• MOM Reportable Accidents are considered to be accidents whereby the employee is certified by a registered medical practitioner or registered dentist to be unfit for work, or to require hospitalisation or to be placed on light duties, on account of the accident.
• Refer to MOM’s website for the detailed definition of major injuries and minor injuries.
• Major IR: Major Injury Rate (number of major workplace injuries per 100,000 persons employed)
• Minor IR [N]: Minor Injury Rate (number of minor workplace injuries per 100,000 persons employed)

Total WSH at Managed Properties

Facilities management and maintenance are vital in delivering prompt and reliable services to our tenants, customers and building users. This impacts the operational efficiency of our managed assets and our bottom line. As such, we place great emphasis on guiding our facility managers and contractors to uphold safe, healthy and productive work environments for workers in our managed buildings. Tenants are also engaged to provide feedback on unsafe conditions, which are addressed promptly.

Contracted workers are engaged through monthly meetings to develop solutions that mitigate WSH risks and to reiterate the importance of health and safety issues. The majority of our contracted workers, who are not directly employed by CDL but work at our premises, are from CBM Pte Ltd, CDL’s whollyowned subsidiary. In 2022, a quarterly headcount average of 252 CBM workers worked at CDL’s managed buildings.

Robust risk assessments at our managed properties are led by our trained personnel in operational risk management. For every facility management assignment in our properties, suppliers are required to perform risk assessments to mitigate safety risks, for example, falling from heights that could result in bodily injury or fatality. To manage this, it is mandatory for all supervisors and workers to attend ‘Working at Height’ course.

In 2022, there were no fatalities, high-consequence injury, major injury, dangerous occurrences and occupational disease involving the workers of our key contractors8 at CDL managed properties. There were three reportable injuries (e.g., trip and fall, over-exertion/strenuous movement), which were classified to be minor. These were sustained by our contractors’ workers and resulted in a loss of 107 man-days. Root causes of these injuries were identified and corrected immediately to prevent a recurrence. Learnings from all incidents were actively shared with our respective managers, EHS working committees and contractors. We continue to work closely with our contractors to strengthen the risk control measures of their daily operational activities.

Total WSH at Construction Sites

CDL prioritises our workers’ health and safety through the enforcement of policies and practices. Measures to manage and minimise high-risk activities include:

  • Robust risk controls, such as fall prevention plans and regular personnel protective equipment inspections
  • Frequent briefings on dengue, fatigue, heat stress, hearing conservation and respiratory protection
  • Regular on-site inspections for health and safety risks

For close to two decades, we require our builders to have an accredited health and safety management system, such as ISO 14001, ISO 45001 or minimally a bizSAFE Level 3 certification as part of the tender assessment. We also actively engage our business partners on health and safety matters through risk reviews, covering the whole lifecycle starting from pre-construction to TOP attainment. In 2022, one of our main contractors achieved the Safety and Health Award Recognition for Projects (SHARP) for Amber Park. This award recognises large-scale projects or worksites that have good safety and health performance, and workplace safety and health management systems.

A customised EHS risk register is used for each project to identify and mitigate EHS issues from the design stage and the type of construction materials and methods to be adopted are actively reviewed to mitigate EHS risks.

Each construction site has a dedicated workplace EHS committee, representing all workers on-site, including members from the main contractor’s management, construction workers and sub-contractors. CDL’s Project Managers regularly track workplace EHS issues at meetings conducted on-site with our main contractors and workers’ representatives, amongst others. This allows close oversight of issues on-site, ranging from technical challenges to workers’ welfare. These meetings serve as a platform for site coordinators to report unsafe work conditions and propose risk mitigation action plans. Some of our sites further incentivise workers to identify and report risk, to raise overall safety awareness.

For every project development, a monthly joint safety inspection is carried out in the presence of the main contractor, sub-contractors, and site staff representing CDL and our consultants. The inspection highlights safety infringements and promotes better work conditions. Since 2001, on top of regulatory mandated audits, CDL also monitors the performance of the main contractor’s EHS management through our CDL 5-Star EHS Assessment.

In 2022, an average of 2,803 construction workers worked at our developments. Across our seven active construction sites throughout the 12-month period in 2022, an average of 31.7 workers were involved in every 1,000 m2 of built area.

In 2022, there was one fatality at Copen Grand on 13 December resulting in a fatality rate of 0.11*. Immediate action was taken to investigate the cause and ensure that further preventive measures are established, in addition to regular briefings and actions to remind our contractors and workers of the importance of good health and safety practices onsite. There was no dangerous occurrence and occupational disease at CDL’s construction sites. However, there was one major injury case (struck by falling object) and seven minor injury cases (e.g., cuts, slip and fall, struck by or onto objects) reported across our construction sites. These were addressed immediately with prompt identification of the root causes and corrective actions needed. Learnings from all incidents were shared with the respective managers, EHS working committees and contractors. CDL continues to work closely with our contractors to strengthen the risk control measures of their daily operational activities.

 

* The safety performance indicated here accounts for projects in the construction phase. There were two additional cases which occurred during the demolition phase.

 

• Industry average figures refer to workplace injury by industry rate published in Workplace Safety and Health National Statistics Report 2021
* The 3-year rolling average was taken for 2022 as full-year 2022 data was not available at the point of publication.
^ Number has been restated to account for the workhours for Irwell accurately

CDL 5-Star EHS Assessment and Awards

The CDL 5-Star EHS Assessment and Awards was established in 2001 as an independent audit tool to assess, measure and improve main contractors’ EHS management and performance and it has been instrumental in influencing CDL’s main contractors’ and consultants’ EHS performance. It serves to ensure a comprehensive, audited, and appraised approach. All CDL main contractors are required to undergo quarterly EHS inspections and audits conducted by an independent audit firm recognised by MOM and are appraised in areas such as energy, water, waste management, safety, noise and public health management. Results are then presented to the management and site supervisors of the contractors and consultants during the quarterly CDL 5-Star EHS Seminars. These seminars are opportunities to share best practices and peer learning, helping to encourage better EHS performance amongst our builders.

Close to 150 migrant workers, sub-contractors and consultants participated in various telematches with Guest-of-Honour Senior Minister of State, Mr Zaqy Mohamad.

Launched in 2005, the CDL 5-star EHS Awards recognises exemplary builders and workers who have excelled in the CDL 5-Star EHS Assessment during the reporting year. In the second half of 2022, the CDL 5-Star EHS seminar resumed to in-person sessions. Our development projects scored the highest rating of five stars, based on the average performance across the year. CDL’s annual CDL 5-Star Awards and EHS Sports Challenge 2022, involved close to 150 migrant workers with their sub-contractors and consultants. Participants gathered at the Singapore University of Technology and Design’s stadium for a day of competitive telematches, interactive game stations and educational exchanges covering a spectrum of Workplace Safety practices. The event was graced by Senior Minister of State for Manpower of Singapore, Mr Zaqy Mohamad and senior representatives from WSH Council.

 

1 bizSAFE Mentors are organisations that have demonstrated excellent WSH performance and leadership. As a role model, a bizSAFE Mentor shares good practices and nurtures bizSAFE Enterprises in their WSH, guiding them as they progress in the programme.
2 About | Sustainability in Singapore.
3 Occupational, Health and Safety (OHS) management system standard was revised in March 2018. The publication of ISO 45001:2018 has since replaced OHSAS 18001.
4 100% of key operations (Corporate Management, Property and Facilities Management and Project Management Services) are covered under our health and safety management system.
5 A high-consequence injury is a work-related injury that results in a fatality or in an injury from which the worker cannot, does not, or is not expected to recover fully to pre-injury health status within six months.
6 Reportable incident refers to a work-related accident, workplace accident, dangerous occurrence and occupational disease that require statutory reporting to MOM, as mandated by the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health Act.
7 Following the amendments to the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), major and minor injury numbers will include injuries with any instance of medical leave or light duties. Numbers presented under this new series will be marked with [N].
8 Key contractors in our managed properties provide cleaning, security services and mechanical and engineering support. Working hours disclosed covers CDL employees and workers of key contractors only.
* Fatal injury rate refers to the number of fatal workplace injuries per million manhours worked.