Health and Safety

At SMU, we take a holistic approach toward caring for the health, wellbeing and safety of our students and employees. From physical health, emotional and mental wellbeing to resilience against life events, we offer a breadth of initiatives, services and benefits, supported by targeted policies and other aspects of our facilities.

Safe and Respectful Campus

Nurturing a culture of respect and safety requires the collective and continuous commitment of students, faculty and staff. We all have a vital role to play to make SMU a place where everyone feels safe, respected and valued.

How can you form and cultivate healthy relationships? What constitutes harassment and violence? How can you intervene and respond when in such situations? Learn about these topics with our short modules.

The Office of Safety and Security (OSS) also delivers life-saving training, and safety and risk management programmes for students and employees. SMU is currently the only university in Singapore to be accredited as a Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) & Automated External Defibrillator (AED) training centre by Singapore Resuscitation & First Aid (SRFAC).

Interested to find out more about the training programmes offered by OSS? Email safetycentre@smu.edu.sg to learn more.
 

We encourage the SMU community to practise reporting and support-seeking behaviours that will contribute to effective violence response and prevention.

When students encounter discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct as victims or witnesses, they can choose to disclose or report to staff from Voices@SMU, which provides a safe place for them to be heard. Employees and students can also get in touch with SMU's First Responders, who are a team of trained volunteers providing immediate support and care to those who encounter harassment, discrimination and bullying.

SMU's Campus Security provides 24 hour assistance for emergencies such as fire, major injury, armed intruders, public nuisance, personal threat and suspicious activity. Our security officers are trained to provide emergency assistance to the University's community as well as the public. If you experience any of the situations above and require immediate assistance, please call 6828 0343. Alternatively, if you are able to, you can make your way to the security counters at Level 1 of SMU buildings.

Our policies aims to avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest or reasonable apprehension of bias, to preserve privacy, to minimise risk of reprisal, and to ensure coordination and consistency across all  schools, offices, institutes and centres.

Holistic Support

We offer a wide range of physical, recreational, and social activities that enable students and employees to explore fresh experiences, embrace new friendships and create lasting memories during their time at the University. Beyond enhancing physical health, programmes, resources, and activities are also designed to nurture mental and emotional wellbeing.

Sports and physical activities are integral to community life at SMU. With nearly 40 different sports and adventure clubs, and a host of sports facilities on campus, students are empowered to get active and have fun on their university journey.

Employees too have access to a suite of health and fitness programmes and benefits. SMU’s Work on Wellness, Wellness on Work (WOW) committee organises weekly fitness sessions, monthly lunchtime health talks and quarterly healthy food giveaways. Additionally, employees also have access to time-off for sports and annual health screening subsidy.

To support students in achieving their potential, SMU trains Student Care Officers (SCOs) who actively engage with students to help address stressors and develop their abilities to make well-informed choices towards achieving success in life. To find out more about our Student Care and Support Services, or to reach out to our Student Care Officers, contact the Student Care and Support services at studentcare@smu.edu.sg.

Individual and group counselling is offered by the therapy and care team at the Mrs Wong Kwok Leong Student Wellness Centre to help students navigate stressful circumstances. The Centre also provides a safe space for students to destress and speak to Peer Helpers for support as well as advice and support for students with disabilities.

For SMU employees and their immediate family members, the Employee Assistance Programme provides confidential support on a wide range of work and personal issues, including short-term counselling, learning resources, and referrals for issues impacting emotional, mental, and physical well-being. To find out more about the services covered under the Employee Assistance Programme, contact the Employee Engagement Team at smuee@smu.edu.sg.

When life changes happen, expectedly or unexpectedly, it takes more than good health and mental wellbeing to bounce back. With this belief, SMU offers various programmes and tools to help our students and employees enhance their social, financial, career and intellectual resilience. Ranging from essential life skill obtainments (e.g. stress management, personal finance, relationship navigation and career planning workshops) to timely assistance (e.g. career coaching and medical insurance coverage), each support is carefully curated with considerations for various life stages and needs.

To help our employees balance work responsibilities and personal obligations and needs, SMU implemented the '3F Policy' (Flexi-place, Flexi-hours, and Flexi-benefits). The policy enables work-from-home arrangements, flexible start-work and stop-work times, and flexible benefits for wellbeing and self-care activities such as staycations, ergonomic home-office setups, fitness and health related expenses).

    What you can do

    • Download the Resilience@SMU app (only for SMU students and employees) and start building your "resilience muscle" today.
    • Meditate and practise mindfulness. Participate in one of the mindfulness courses offered by the Mindfulness Initiative at the Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Meditating for 5 minutes a day can improve your quality of life, with increased resilience being one of the key benefits from a mindfulness practice.
    • Put on your jogging shoes and make an early morning or late evening run at leafy Campus Green (open to the public) part of your weekly routine. For SMU students and employees, you can also power through your busy schedule with a short workout at our fitness centre.