Written Reply by Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen to Parliamentary Question on SAF – Operational Readiness with Safety on 11 Nov 2024

Mr Christopher de Souza asked the Minister for Defence how the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) continues to strive for operational readiness matched with safety in light of the recent incident during Exercise Wallaby.

Minister for Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen:

Both safety and operational readiness are part of SAF’s core missions in peacetime. It is possible, indeed mandatory, to achieve both without compromising the high standards of either goal.

For safety, zero training fatalities remains a key deliverable for all unit commanders. It can be achieved only with a strong safety culture and a robust safety management system that emphasises both leadership accountability as well as personal responsibility of soldiers. Safety indicators constitute part of their unit’s performance measurement and reporting. Individual soldiers are taught to exercise responsibility for their own safety as well as those around them. Continued command emphasis, safety education, incident and near miss reporting reinforce such behaviours.

The SAF trains realistically in challenging terrain and tempo of drills such as Exercise Wallaby and many others. To achieve safety outcomes and zero fatalities in these exercises, detailed assessment of risks in each part of the exercise are required together with discrete plans to avoid injuries.

Commanders’ lead in these measures and the safe conduct of exercises is a key deliverable. Best practice safety designs and features are studied and built into warfighting platforms and other equipment. Safety standards and procedures are specified for a range of operational and training activities. Soldier training is conducted progressively to ensure that they master the basics before moving on to more demanding tasks and complex situations, and pre-activity safety briefs and drills are conducted as reminders. When incidents or near misses happen, as it did where one Hunter armoured fighting vehicle rear-ended another during Exercise Wallaby in Australia, thorough investigations are conducted and lessons learnt shared across the units.          

The SAF Inspector-General’s Office (IGO), headed by the Chief of Staff - Joint Staff (COS-JS), is responsible to oversee all these efforts and outcomes. The Inspector-General’s Office conducts safety assessments through regular physical audits of SAF Formations and units and reviews of notable safety incidents and near misses. It is assisted by external experts and review panels, including the External Review Panel on SAF Safety to benchmark and provide inputs to enhance SAF’s safety management culture, systems and practices.