The Sports Safety Committee on Friday revealed details of their recommendations after a two-month long review.

Led by Dr Benedict Tan, Head of Changi General Hospital's Sports Medicine Division, the 12-member committee has put forth a comprehensive report on sports safety standards and studied all aspects of sports safety, ranging from pre-participation screening to medical support plans.

As revealed by Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports in Parliament on Tuesday, the committee has five key recommendations.

First, to increase participation screening to ensure that participants are healthy and able to endure the physical pounding.

Screening will be mandatory for athletes while casual participants can volunteer to be screened.

Second, step up on public education so that individuals are aware of sports safety issues. They should be able to recognise some of the warning signs of over-exertion and understand that there are dangers to over-training.

Third, all sports facilities should be safe for users with the appropriate equipment and trained personnel in case of any emergencies.

A recent incident at Toa Payoh Sport Hall proved the importance of having this provision.

A 61-year-old man who collapsed after a game of badminton was treated on the spot by a fitness instructor. He was given cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an Automatic External Defibrilator (AED) was used. He has since undergone surgery and is now on the road to recovery.

The fourth recommendation is a risk assessment matrix to be used to determine which events are higher-risk sports, so the equipment and personnel can be tailored to the needs of the sports events in case of emergencies.

Lastly, a central repository will be set up to collate information on incident statistics from sports events so that proper provisions can be made for future events.

'Our assessment is that some of the proposals are low hanging fruits that can be implemented in the near term - this includes promoting basic sports safety awareness, encouraging more people to go for CPR/First Aid course, and having self-administerd health advisory signages in all the public sports facilities,' said Mr Oon Jun Teik, CEO of Singapore Sports Council.

However, he added that some other recommendations like the central repository for incident reporting and making sure all sports facilities are properly equipped would take a longer time to put in place.

The committee also emphasised that the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks and that a person who exercises regularly has a lower risk of collapsing during sports than one who exercises sporadically.

The committee will also engage all stakeholders like school teachers, coaches and even parents to help realise the recommendations.