Senior safety supervisor wins WSH Supervisor Award
Back home in Tamil Nadu, India, Mr Francis Rymond witnessed many fatal accidents on the roads.
Once, he saw a man fall off a vehicle and die after being hit by a bus.
The accidents left an indelible mark on him. When he came to Singapore 10 years ago and got a job as a construction worker, he made sure he stayed safe while working.
Now, as a senior safety supervisor at Tiong Seng Contractors, he makes sure his fellow workers stay safe as well.
DEDICATION
It is for this dedication and attention to safety that Mr Francis, 47, will be getting a WSH Supervisor Award, alongside 172 companies and individuals at the annual WSH Awards 2017 at Resorts World Sentosa today.
A spokesman for WSH said Mr Francis had demonstrated care for workers under his charge by improving the WSH performance in his workplace.
It is the combined effort of people like him that has helped more than 100,000 of our foreign workers go home safely and in good health every day last year, the spokesman added.
Mr Francis' daily tasks include inspecting his worksite, making sure the work platform scaffolds are at least 0.5m wide and that the workers put on their safety goggles when performing grinding work.
At his current work site at Yio Chu Kang Road, he holds daily morning safety briefings for the hundreds of workers.
He even keeps an eye on their mental health by chatting and checking in with them.
"I tell the workers not to bottle up their problems or feelings, but to share with their supervisors or colleagues whom they trust," he said.
A father of two, Mr Francis' eyes lit up when asked about his family back home.
He said: "My two teenage daughters will call me twice every day to ask me how I'm doing. They know how risky working at a construction site can be and get worried if I don't call home."
His supervisor Edwin Lee, 39, a senior project manager, told The New Paper: "Francis performs over and above our expectations when it comes to safety, and he is also an earnest learner who is constantly upgrading himself."
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