Prioritising occupational health and safety at Duke-NUS Medical School

At Duke-NUS, our commitment to safety parallels our dedication to academic excellence. Through proactive risk management and a deeply ingrained culture of safety, we ensure that every member of our community, from staff to students, navigates a secure environment. We instil a safety mindset in our community by:

Having robust and practicable crisis management, emergency and recovery plans
Conducting regular exercises, training and incident debriefings
Developing warning and notification systems
Maintaining effective communication channels at all times

Our Safety, Health, Emergency Management, Research Integrity & Compliance (SHERIC) Department, Safety Committee and Crisis Management Committee are central to these efforts. Together with the University's Office of Risk Management and Compliance (ORMC), they make safety not just a priority but a way of life.

Duke-NUS’ occupational health and safety policy

At Duke-NUS, we recognise that safety excellence is integral to our mission of transforming medicine and improving lives. We are committed to continuously improving strategies and processes to ensure the highest level of safety performance that meets national and international standards.

Our commitment to creating a culture of health and safety at Duke-NUS is captured in our policy:

Objectives

The School and all our employees and associates are committed to the following:

Providing a safe and healthy workplace to prevent injuries and ill-health for our employees, students, contractors and visitors through a robust and certified Occupational Health & Safety Management System
Complying with all applicable legal requirements, standards, codes of practice and university requirements
Taking reasonable and practicable measures to manage hazards and reduce Occupational Health & Safety risks that may impact the community and environment
Maintaining an open communication channel and encouraging a ‘Just Culture’, where available and accessible reporting of all safety and health hazards and matters are encouraged in good faith without the fear of reprisal
Providing and supporting services, programmes and initiatives to foster an inclusive and consultative culture of safety, good health and wellbeing
Establishing a system of accident and incident reporting and analysis to encourage staff to learn from them and to minimise the possibility of reoccurrence
Assessing the effectiveness of the safety management system through regular audits of safety procedures and practices
Establishing relevant training programmes to ensure safe work practices
Continuously reviewing and improving the School’s safety performance

Responsibilities

At Duke-NUS, safety is our individual and shared responsibility, and we will work together to create a safe workplace for everyone.

Application of the policy

This policy applies across the board at Duke-NUS Medical School.

Safety management

We follow a comprehensive safety management system based on the ISO 45001 standard. The plan-do-check-act, or PDCA, cycle identifies and reduces risks and promotes a safety culture where everyone takes responsibility for maintaining a safe workplace.

Since 2012, we have achieved and maintained the prevailing international best practices in occupational health and safety by being certified to the standards required by the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series, or OHSAS, 18001 certification from 2012 to 2019 and the current ISO 45001 standard since 2020. As part of the National University of Singapore, we are also regularly recognised for our commitment to safety at the NUS Health & Safety Awards.

The Safety, Health, Emergency Management, Research Integrity & Compliance (SHERIC) Department collaborates with all stakeholders to create a safety management system that serves as a single point of contact for all safety-related concerns at the School.

Contact us

Email Duke-NUS Safety at safety-team@duke-nus.edu.sg.

Prioritising occupational health and safety at Duke-NUS

Duke-NUS’ occupational health and safety policy

Safety management

Contact us

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