Platform worker deaths double as road risk hits five times the national average – NTUC pushes for faster action

In brief:

• Singapore’s workplace major injury rate hit an all-time low in the first half of 2026 but deaths rose, driven mainly by road accidents.
• Platform worker deaths doubled to four, with an injury rate more than five times the national average; 86 per cent of their injuries came from vehicular accidents.
• NTUC and its platform work associations are pushing for safer order-matching and clearer incentive structures, alongside a joint MOM-industry safety review due to conclude by year-end.
• Smaller-scale construction jobs and metalworking saw injuries rise even as their sectors improved overall – the gains haven’t been shared evenly.
• Occupational diseases, mostly hearing loss and musculoskeletal injuries, also climbed, though MOM says wider reporting rules explain most of the increase.

Singapore’s workplaces recorded their lowest major injury rate in years in the first half of 2026, according to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) report.

But the report also flagged a rise in workplace deaths, driven largely by road accidents involving platform workers and other vehicle users, even as the Government, employers and unions work through a review of how to make deliveries and ride-hailing safer.

Platform workers suffered 44 fatal and major injuries – MOM’s term for serious harm short of death – in the first half of the year, on par with the same period in 2025. But fatalities among this group rose to four, up from two a year earlier, and now sit level with construction as the second-largest contributor to workplace deaths, behind transport and storage.

The rate of fatal and major injuries among platform workers – 92.1 per 100,000 workers – was more than five times the rate for the workforce.

Most of that risk came from the road: 86 per cent of platform worker injuries were road accidents, and 84 per cent happened while workers were out on delivery jobs.

A joint effort to close the gap

The figures build on a data series MOM began publishing in 2025, after platform operators were first required to report work-related injuries under the Platform Workers Act.

In response, MOM formed the Platform Worker Safety Workgroup (PWSW) in March 2026, bringing together Government agencies, platform operators, NTUC and platform work associations to study measures such as driver training, safer riding practices, safety technology and better data collection.

The Workgroup’s findings are due by year-end.

NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Yeo Wan Ling, who advises NTUC’s three platform work associations, said: “I am concerned by the workplace safety numbers involving platform workers in MOM’s report for the first half of 2026. Four platform workers lost their lives, while another 40 suffered major injuries while carrying out their work.”

“If we are serious about platform worker safety, we also have to talk about the realities of how they earn and work,” she said.

“When fares are low, workers may need to complete more trips or spend longer hours on the road to make the same income. Incentive structures can also influence how intensively they work. Add the heat, haze, heavy delivery loads and busy roads, and these risks can compound.”

“So we cannot simply tell platform workers to ’be more careful’. Safety has to be built into the platform work ecosystem,” she said.

NTUC and its associations – the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) and National Taxi Association (NTA) – have been pushing for greater transparency around incentive structures and for delivery loads to be matched to the appropriate mode of transport, she said. They have also started working with platforms and road safety partners on practical measures such as RideSafe, where NDCA, Grab and the Riding Safety Association of Singapore bring riding training based on real delivery conditions to riders.

“We welcome MHA and Traffic Police joining the Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce,” she said. “For platform workers, workplace safety is also road safety.”

“Fair pay and safety are connected. Workers should not have to spend longer hours on the road or take greater risks simply to earn a fair livelihood,” she said. “We will continue working with platforms, Government and our associations to make platform work safer, while continuing to fight for fair pay.”

Some platform operators have already moved ahead of the Workgroup’s timeline. Foodpanda’s “Ride Smart, Ride Safe” video series is one example. So is the Advanced Riding Development Programme (ARDP) – a four-hour Urban Rider Safety Course launched in August by NDCA, Grab and the Singapore Riding Safety Association, open to any rider rather than just Grab’s own.

MOM has cited both as good practice.

Manpower Minister of State Dinesh Vasu Dash, commenting on the report, called the rise in road-related deaths “a serious concern,” and pointed to steps MOM had already taken – including a two-week nationwide voluntary Safety Time-Out and enhanced penalties – after seven workers died within four weeks in late May and June.

“Employers and workers must continue to stay vigilant and make workplace safety and health a priority every day,” he said.

Gains elsewhere were uneven

Away from the roads, the report’s headline figure was encouraging: the major injury rate, excluding platform workers, fell to an all-time low of 14.6 per 100,000 workers, down from 15.8 a year earlier.

But that progress wasn’t shared equally. Construction had its best half-year since 2020, driven almost entirely by improvements at larger, established building sites.

Smaller renovation and addition-and-alteration jobs – more often subcontracted out, and more likely to employ migrant workers with less power to push back on unsafe conditions – actually got worse, and now account for 70 per cent of the sector’s serious injuries.

MOM says it’s reviewing how to hold the contractors running these smaller jobs more accountable.

Manufacturing showed a similar split: injuries in metalworking rose sharply even as food and beverage manufacturing improved, prompting MOM to maintain a higher inspection rate at metalworking sites.

Occupational diseases climb as reporting widens

Occupational diseases – mostly hearing loss and musculoskeletal injuries from repeated strain – rose to 620 cases in the first half of the year, up from 485.

MOM says most of the increase is down to expanded reporting requirements that took effect in December 2025, rather than a decline in workplace health standards. Still, the rise is a reminder that slow-building injuries remain a persistent risk for workers in physically demanding jobs.

NTUC’s response

NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong, who sits on the WSH Council, said the numbers were a reminder not to be complacent.

He shared on a Facebook post: “Workplace safety is improving, but every fatality and every injury remind us that our work is far from done.

“There were 21 workplace fatalities in 1H2026, with vehicular incidents accounting for 9 of them. This remains a serious concern, especially for workers whose jobs require them to be on the road.

“The safety of platform workers also remains a key concern. In 1H2026, 4 platform workers lost their lives and 40 suffered major injuries, with their fatal and major injury rate about five times that of the overall workforce. Most cases were linked to delivery work and vehicular incidents.

“Beyond worksites, we must also tackle road safety risks more decisively, especially for platform workers and others whose jobs require them to be on the road. This means strengthening training, making better use of technology, improving safety practices, and raising awareness among workers, employers and all road users.”

NTUC would continue to work closely with its tripartite partners and the Platform Worker Safety Workgroup to push for better safety outcomes, he added, “so that every worker can return home safely at the end of each workday.”

What happens next

MOM has said it will not exclude platform worker deaths from the national target of fewer than one workplace fatality per 100,000 workers by 2028, even though including them makes the target harder to hit.

Every worker’s death counts the same, MOM indicated, regardless of employment status.

With the Platform Worker Safety Workgroup due to report by year-end, and MOM’s multi-agency safety taskforce recently expanded to include the Ministry of Home Affairs and Traffic Police, the next few months should show whether the measures already in motion are enough to bring the road toll down alongside the rest of the workplace injury numbers.

Mr Yong said: “My message to all workers is simple: your safety and health matter. If you are worried about unsafe work conditions, road safety risks or health concerns at work, please speak up early. Approach your union or NTUC for support. No worker should feel that they have to suffer in silence, and no safety concern should be ignored.

“Workplace safety is a shared responsibility. Together with our tripartite partners, employers, platform operators and workers, NTUC will continue to champion safer workplaces, safer roads and stronger protection for every worker.”