(Bloomberg) -- Singapore will step up enforcement checks on workplace safety as fatalities in the first seven months rise to the highest since 2016.

The government is boosting access to whistle-blowing channels and will tighten rules to punish errant employers with poor work safety performance, Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said in a speech Friday. 

“It is most regrettable as preliminary investigations found that many of these fatalities could have easily been prevented with the right workplace safety and health control measures,” Tan said. 

The minister told the Straits Times newspaper most of the deaths in recent months involved experienced workers, suggesting standards may have been lax as companies speed up work to make up for lost time. 

There have been 31 workplace fatalities this year, compared with 37 for all of last year and 39 in 2019. Most were due to inadequate control measures or lack of adherence to safe work procedures, Tan told Parliament earlier this month. 

Many of the workplace deaths also involved migrant workers, whom the country depends on for its construction and marine industries.

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