SMRT monitors safety performance indicators for employees, passengers, and contractors, including accident frequency rate (AFR), accident severity rate (ASR), and passenger injury rates. These targets are established based on historical data and benchmarked against national averages. Contractor accident statistics are not included in AFR and ASR calculations. Safety targets are reviewed annually and aim to achieve zero fatalities, benchmarked against national targets.

1. Safety performance indicators for Railway and BusTransits
Background:
SMRT has been certified to OHSAS 18001:2008 since 2009. As part of continuous improvement,
SMRT has been monitoring our safety performance based on a set of indicators with stipulated
targets as defined in our System Safety Programme Plan. These indicators include, but not
limited to: Employee Accident Frequency (AFR) and Severity Rates (ASR) and Passenger Injury
rates. These targets were established based on historical data for employee statistics. There is
no stipulated target given by the Workplace safety regulator (ie. Ministry of Manpower or
MOM), but AFR and ASR are normally used for monitoring purposes where at national level,
such indicators are measured for various industry sectors. To benchmark of safety targets for
employee and contractor, we would like to find out if other transit agencies (i.e. metros/railway
and buses) have also set safety performance indicators for employee and contractor.
Questionnaire
1. Do your metro/railway transit and/or bus transit use the accident frequency [or lost time injuries
(LTI)] and accident severity rates to monitor the safety performance of the employee?
SMRT: Yes
APTA: Yes, there are national standards that apply
2. How do you calculate these figures? What are the formulae used?
SMRT:
Accident frequency rate AFR = (total no. of injuries/total man-hours worked) * 1 million man-hours.
APTA: (total no. of injuries/200,000 manhours) * 200,000 manhours is based on the average
number of hours worked per year by one hundred workers @ 40 hours a week @ 50 weeks a year
(2 weeks are allowed for holiday or sick time out of the 52 weeks available)
And accident severity rate ASR = (total no. of days charged / total no. of man-hours worked) * 1
million man-hours
APTA: Accident severity is determined several ways, most common is by Lost Work Days or LWD
using the same 200,000 manhour basis (total LWDs/200,000 manhours)
Note:
Total no. of injuries are based on workplace accidents which results in the injury of an employee
who is given more than 3 consecutive days of medical leave or hospitalized for at least 24 hours.
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2. APTA: Injuries for employees are calculated differently than for customers.
Employees – All incidents require written notification. Some incidents are non-
reportable because no medical attention was necessary beyond first aid. Reportable
injuries are generally those that result in medical review or treatment. An accident is
reportable regardless of whether or not an employee misses any work. Example:
Employee slips and falls hard on knee. Other than a bruise, he feels alright but goes to a
medical clinic for an xray to make sure that there is no bone fracture. He receives some
anti-inflammatory medication such as Advil (over the counter non prescription) and
returns to work finishing his shift and remainder of the shifts for the week with no time
off. This would be a reportable injury.
Customers- All incidents require verbal or written notification. Classification is either
minor or major. Major are those where person is transported from scene for medical
treatment. All others are deemed to be minor.
Total man-hours are calculated based on 44 man-hours per week for a total of 4 weeks per month
or 52 weeks per year.
3. What is the basis in the above calculation?
SMRT: The above formulae are calculated based on total man-hours from total staff strength. We
may calculate by breaking down the man-hours from headcounts at department or branch level.
APTA: Same
4. If based on staff population/man-hours worked, are contractor accidents also included?
SMRT: Accident statistics from contractors’ injuries are not included.
APTA: Same
5. Are there separate monitoring for accidents arised from staff (Engineering/office based),
passengers, contractors etc?
SMRT: We have separate monitoring for staff, passengers and contractors.
APTA: Same
6. Do your metro/railway transit and/or bus transit monitor the accident statistics against the national
and/or industry average?
SMRT: Yes. Singapore National Average in 2011 for AFR is 1.6 injuries per 1 million man-hours and
that for ASR is 89 days per 1 million man-hours.
APTA: Yes, but different formulae.
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3. 7. How do your metro/railway transit and/or bus transit establish the safety targets for employees,
passenger and contractors? Could you share with us your formulae? Do you take into consideration
of Workmen Injury Compensation claims or other factors for setting of such targets?
SMRT: We established safety targets based on 5-year average historical data for employee accident
frequency AFR (1.2 injuries per 1 million man-hours since 2007) and severity rate ASR (35 days per 1
million manhours since 2007) and benchmarked against national average. While the targets for
passenger injury rate are given by public transport authority. We do not have any target established
for contractor injury rate. We do not take into consideration for workmen injury compensation
claims when establishing AFR and ASR.
8. How often do your metro/railway transit and/or bus transit review the targets?
SMRT: We are certified to OSHAS 18001 and we plan to review the target during the yearly
management review.
9. Do your metro/railway transit and/or bus transit monitor fatality rate? What is your fatality rate?
What is your national target?
SMRT: Yes. Our target for fatality rate is zero. At national level, Singapore aims to achieve 1.8 per
100000 employees by 2018.
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