SAF vehicle accident rate and heat injuries down in 2023
Heat injuries and vehicle accidents are specific areas that the SAF is paying attention to as it seeks to strengthen its safety culture.
SINGAPORE - The number of heat exhaustion injuries suffered by Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen has fallen from seven in 2021 to two in 2023, with no cases of heat stroke among these incidents.
The SAF’s vehicle accident rate has also fallen from 3.04 per 100,000km in the 2021 work year to 2.54 per 100,000km in the 2023 work year, said Senior Minister of State for Defence Heng Chee How.
He did not mention the specific number of vehicle accidents. Mindef’s work year runs from April 1 to March 31 the following year.
Mr Heng provided the figures in Parliament on Oct 16, in response to Nominated MP Neil Parekh’s request for details of safety audits and review processes conducted by the SAF Inspector-General’s Office (IGO).
Heat injuries and vehicle accidents are specific areas that the SAF is paying attention to as it seeks to strengthen its safety culture, Mr Heng said.
“The SAF has raised awareness of units, commanders and servicemen on the importance of heat acclimatisation and early identification of heat injury symptoms,” he added.
Other measures the SAF has taken to reduce heat injuries include the installation of wet bulb globe temperature sensors in camps and training areas to provide the real-time environmental heat measure for better work-rest cycle decisions.
The SAF has also partnered the National University of Singapore and DSO National Laboratories to establish the Heat Resilience and Performance Centre to conduct research and development on soldier heat resilience and adaptation.
Heat stroke is an extreme form of heat injury where the core body temperature exceeds 40 deg C, with symptoms that can include coma, seizure, and altered level of consciousness, confusion or headache. The condition can be fatal if it is not treated in time.
Mr Heng said the SAF has also been strengthening its training regime for its drivers, including qualifying them to drive smaller vehicles to gain experience and confidence, before they progressively operate larger and more complex vehicles. It also uses driving circuits and leverages technology like driving simulators to increase training hours and expand the range of training scenarios, including challenging and contingency situations.
Technology is also deployed on the SAF’s vehicles, with vehicular proximity sensors and cameras having been adopted to reduce human judgment errors.
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