SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has taken strict action against errant Accredited Training Providers (ATP) by cancelling the ATP statuses of four companies today (Dec 10) on grounds that they had “compromised the integrity and robustness” of their Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) courses.

In a statement yesterday, the MOM announced that it had acted on information that the companies — Safety Council Pte Ltd, Safety Academy Pte Ltd, Foster Asia Pacific Pte Ltd and Global Tech Training Solutions Pte Ltd — had violated the Terms and Conditions (T&C) for ATPs. The T&Cs spell out the required training and assessment standards for safety courses conducted by ATPs.

These violations, MOM said, included providing trainees with answers to assessment questions, allowing trainees to copy from one another during assessments, and failing to deliver the course contents adequately by not adhering to the stipulated duration for the courses.

The firms had conducted courses such as the Building Construction Supervisor Safety Course, Construction Safety Orientation Course, Shipyard Safety Instruction Course for Workes and Work-at-Height Course for Workers. Their ATPs statuses were revoked between April and October this year.

The MOM also stated that it will not approve applications by any company applying for ATP status if the directors of the firms involved — namely Mr Ong Lai Huat and Ms Lee Kok Moi of Safety Council Pte

Ltd and Safety Academy Pte Ltd, Mr Adrian Yeo of Foster Asia Pacific and Mr Aravind Raja Periasamy of Global Tech Training Solutions — are named Director, Principal and/or Trainer of that company.

Additionally, three trainers who conducted WSH courses for Foster Asia Pacific have also had their MOM-approved trainer status suspended for between three to six months.

MOM’s commissioner for WSH Ho Siong Hin said that the ministry will continue auditing ATPs to ensure WSH courses are properly conducted. “ATPs who violate the Terms and Conditions of their ATP status erode the trust in our WSH training standards. We will investigate complaints against poor training standards by ATPs and will not hesitate to take action against ATPs if they are found to have malpractices,” Mr Ho said.

Employers and trainees may report poor training practises for WSH courses to the MOM at 64385122 or mom_cc [at] mom.gov.sg. All information submitted will be kept strictly confidential.