SINGAPORE: A man who used a fake certificate to work as a counselor was sentenced to six weeks in prison on Thursday (February 24).

Formwork is rather a form into which concrete or similar materials are poured.

Hanif Miah Md Nurul Islam admits to violating the law on safety and health at work.

In 2015, he received a false formwork safety course for a surveillance compensation certificate without continuing the required training, the Ministry of Human Resources (MOM) said on Thursday.

Between September and December 2020, he was appointed cashier at least four times on the basis of false certificates. MOM began research in February 2021, then was approached by a subcontractor to verify the authenticity of Hanif's certificates.

He was then found not to have received any safety and health training "necessary to be familiar with the dangers of building, constructing, modifying or dismantling formwork".

"Formwork operations are complex and dangerous, and improper assembly or disassembly of formwork can result in the collapse of the entire formwork structure," MOM said.

"Hanif's actions thus expose himself, the workers under his control and other workers in the workplace to the risk of serious injury."

It was also found that Hanif had obtained false certificates for the Metal Scaffolding Assembly Course and the Metal Scaffolding Assembly Course for supervision.

"Hanif has shown great contempt for the law and the importance of training," said Sebastian Tan, director of the Inspectorate for Safety and Health at Work. "Although his actions fortunately did not result in any injury, his lack of training could lead to serious accidents."

He added that good training and certification is needed for safe work, especially for high-risk activities.

"We will also not hesitate to prosecute perpetrators who falsify their security cards and endanger others," he added.