The story of Soon Li Heng Civil Engineering dates back to 1975 when four brothers, who were between 14 and 21 years old, saw an opportunity to venture into the business of transporting building materials for construction firms.

For family-owned and family-oriented business Soon Li Heng Civil Engineering, which won a bizSAFE Enterprise Exemplary Award this year, using innovation and technology is a must in its efforts to create a healthy and safe working environment for its staff.

For business owners, it takes time to build success and reputation, but nearly everything can be lost in an instant when something unfortunate, like an accident at the workplace, happens. Such accidents can be costly and detrimental to the business.

Smaller firms need to generate a mindset change among their staff to instil a "can do" mentality, said Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin yesterday. Mr Tan told about 220 representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that bosses should work on motivating their workers to get the best out of them.