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Fact Sheet - Army Safety Inspectorate
1 March 2019
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Background
The General Staff Inspectorate (GSI) was first formed in 1976 to conduct inspections to assess both safety and operational readiness of Army units. Over the years, GSI grew in its responsibilities in managing safety for the Army and in 2012, GSI was enhanced and renamed the Army Safety Inspectorate (ASI) to more accurately reflect its role in the Army.
Mission
The mission of ASI is "Keeping our Army Safe through cultivating a strong Safety Culture and strengthening our Army Safety Management System", and this is achieved through (i) cultivating 'safe' attitude and behaviour of our servicemen; and (ii) establishing and enforcing the application of safety management tools.
Key Functions
The five key functions of ASI (see Figure 1) are designed to systematically and methodically manage risk in all operations and training to prevent safety incidents, and enable swift investigation into causal factors should an incident occur. Safety governance involves setting policy and developing the Army Safety framework, which defines the scope for the conduct of safety audit and inspections, investigations and education. In turn, collated findings and feedback from these functions provide sufficient data points for data analysis to be done. This allows ASI to identify areas of improvement for the strengthening of governance policies, safety education and training, and creating a feedback cycle.
Figure 1: Five Key Functions
Army Safety Audit and Training Inspection System
The Army Safety Audit and Inspection System was adapted from the British Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001. Safety audits and training inspections are enforcement tools used to complement and strengthen our Army Safety System by (i) verifying ground compliance to authorised practices, regulations and instructions; and (ii) identifying areas of improvement to our system.
Levels of Audit and Inspection. In order to ensure a robust system and enforce compliance at every echelon, our Army has three levels of audit and inspection (see Figure 2). The ASI inspection team (Level 3) conducts around 300 safety audit and training inspections per year as an added layer of checks. Since the lifting of the Army Safety Timeout in February 2019, all high-risk and field training in the Army will be inspected.
Figure 2: Three Levels of Army Safety Audit and Training Inspection
Safety Audit. A safety audit is conducted to assess the robustness of the Unit Safety Management System, which include the unit's safety processes, documentation and application of risk management. It also provides objective feedback on the unit's safety organisation, safety-related best practices, and adherence to safety procedures. This allows areas for improvement to be identified in the unit safety management system, thereby strengthening the unit's safety culture. Every unit will need to be audited every work year.
Training Inspection. A training inspection is performed during the conduct of a training activity. This involves an unannounced spot check during training to verify the unit's compliance to Training Safety Regulations, and that necessary safety control measures are implemented. For example, inspectors will check the authorised operating materials, such as lesson plans, and verify that the safety protocols are being adhered to during training. Such safety protocols include the enforcement of hydration regime and the conduct of risk assessment checks by the section commanders. Such training inspections are conducted by ASI inspectors at least four times a work year per unit.
Qualification of ASI Inspectors. Each safety audit and inspection team is made up of two personnel. ASI inspectors are military and ex-military commanders who are familiar and experienced in training. In line with Ministry of Manpower safety requirements, they are also required to attain Workplace Safety and Health basic and advanced certification and certified as OHSAS lead auditors.
Inspector-General Office Strengthens SAF Safety System
From April 2019 onwards, ASI's inspections are augmented by another layer of safety audits and inspections from the Inspector-General Office (IGO). The IGO will conduct independent audits and inspections to ensure that (i) the SAF's safety policy and objectives are being implemented effectively; (ii) there is strong command emphasis on safety across the Service and Formation HQs; (iii) there are sound safety management systems in place at the Service and Formation HQs, which are implemented effectively on the ground; and (iv) commanders have nurtured and are sustaining a strong safety culture on the ground. In addition, IGO will work with ASI and the other Service Inspectorates to cross-share and incorporate safety ideas and best practices from all Services and from outside the SAF.
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