SINGAPORE: Three former employees of a now-defunct training provider have been jailed over their roles in forging Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) course certificates and training records.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a press release on Monday (Jul 7) that Mohan Prabu, Veeranan Seeman and Murugaiyan Senthil had worked for PSU Global.
All were convicted under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) for issuing certificates that fraudulently certified trainees had successfully completed their WSH courses, the ministry added, labelling the case as a "deliberate and coordinated abuse" of the training system.
The scheme involved multiple deceptive practices such as trainers conducting "significantly shortened" WSH courses, trainees being guaranteed a pass regardless of their course competence, the creation of false attendance sheets and the uploading of false trainees' results to MOM's training record system.
Mohan, who was PSU Global's director, had instructed trainers to carry out the fraudulent practices.
According to MOM, he also provided a digital copy of his signature to facilitate the issuance of forged certificates under his name.
Mohan was sentenced to 20 weeks' imprisonment on Monday.
Veeranan, who was a training manager at PSU Global, had conducted the shortened WSH courses and helped to manipulate trainees’ test results. Veeranan was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail on Mar 6.
Murugaiyan was appointed as director of PSU Global in 2019. The ministry said he had continued the fraudulent operations and gave consent for forged certificates to be issued under his name. He was jailed for six months on Apr 7.
Investigations revealed that all "were involved in a coordinated scheme to issue certificates that falsely represented that the full course requirements had been met", MOM said.
"Practical sessions were either skipped or completed within an hour. Trainees were provided with test answers or instructed to write in pencil so that wrong answers could be erased and amended by the trainers."
The forged certificates were subsequently uploaded to MOM's training records system, falsely indicating that the trainees had completed their training and were competent to carry out safety-critical tasks, it added.
To safeguard workplace safety, MOM said that it has informed all affected employers and workers that the WSH certificates issued by PSU Global are not recognised.
"Employers must ensure that affected workers are not deployed to roles requiring the invalidated certifications unless they have completed training with an accredited provider recognised by the commissioner for WSH," said MOM.
Checks by MOM found that most of the affected workers had not been deployed to perform the specific tasks that were covered by the forged certificates.
No evidence was also found indicating that the deployment of these workers led to any safety-related incidents.
"Proper training and certification are essential in ensuring work activities can be carried out safely," said Mr Sebastian Tan, director of MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate.
"This case was a deliberate and coordinated abuse of the WSH training system, with employers being misled into believing that their workers were properly trained."
He added that this could have posed serious safety risks on the ground and that MOM will not hesitate to take action against culpable parties for such fraudulent activities.
Employers whose workers had obtained the "Higher Skilled" R1 status under the Multi-Skilling Scheme based on these forged certificates have since been informed of the revised foreign worker levy rates.
MOM has also notified affected employers of any past levies to be recovered, as they should have been charged based on the workers’ actual certified skills.
Continue reading...
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a press release on Monday (Jul 7) that Mohan Prabu, Veeranan Seeman and Murugaiyan Senthil had worked for PSU Global.
All were convicted under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) for issuing certificates that fraudulently certified trainees had successfully completed their WSH courses, the ministry added, labelling the case as a "deliberate and coordinated abuse" of the training system.
The scheme involved multiple deceptive practices such as trainers conducting "significantly shortened" WSH courses, trainees being guaranteed a pass regardless of their course competence, the creation of false attendance sheets and the uploading of false trainees' results to MOM's training record system.
THE SCHEME
Mohan, who was PSU Global's director, had instructed trainers to carry out the fraudulent practices.
According to MOM, he also provided a digital copy of his signature to facilitate the issuance of forged certificates under his name.
Mohan was sentenced to 20 weeks' imprisonment on Monday.
Veeranan, who was a training manager at PSU Global, had conducted the shortened WSH courses and helped to manipulate trainees’ test results. Veeranan was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail on Mar 6.
Murugaiyan was appointed as director of PSU Global in 2019. The ministry said he had continued the fraudulent operations and gave consent for forged certificates to be issued under his name. He was jailed for six months on Apr 7.
Investigations revealed that all "were involved in a coordinated scheme to issue certificates that falsely represented that the full course requirements had been met", MOM said.
"Practical sessions were either skipped or completed within an hour. Trainees were provided with test answers or instructed to write in pencil so that wrong answers could be erased and amended by the trainers."
The forged certificates were subsequently uploaded to MOM's training records system, falsely indicating that the trainees had completed their training and were competent to carry out safety-critical tasks, it added.
Related:
"PROPER TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION ESSENTIAL"
To safeguard workplace safety, MOM said that it has informed all affected employers and workers that the WSH certificates issued by PSU Global are not recognised.
"Employers must ensure that affected workers are not deployed to roles requiring the invalidated certifications unless they have completed training with an accredited provider recognised by the commissioner for WSH," said MOM.
Checks by MOM found that most of the affected workers had not been deployed to perform the specific tasks that were covered by the forged certificates.
No evidence was also found indicating that the deployment of these workers led to any safety-related incidents.
"Proper training and certification are essential in ensuring work activities can be carried out safely," said Mr Sebastian Tan, director of MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate.
"This case was a deliberate and coordinated abuse of the WSH training system, with employers being misled into believing that their workers were properly trained."
He added that this could have posed serious safety risks on the ground and that MOM will not hesitate to take action against culpable parties for such fraudulent activities.
Employers whose workers had obtained the "Higher Skilled" R1 status under the Multi-Skilling Scheme based on these forged certificates have since been informed of the revised foreign worker levy rates.
MOM has also notified affected employers of any past levies to be recovered, as they should have been charged based on the workers’ actual certified skills.
Continue reading...