MOM Increases Scrutiny on High-Risk Worksites for a Two-Month Period

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will dramatically intensify inspection and audit measures over the next two months. Management systems at companies with egregious infractions will also be examined.

The action was taken after a nine-month period of increased safety concluded on May 31 even though certain measures were kept in place and others were unveiled.

The divisional director of the MOM’s occupational safety and health division, Mr. Silas Sng, stated that such inspections are a component of improved procedures now that the period of heightened safety has ended.

Mr. Sng, who is also the commissioner of occupational safety and health, stated, “We have been keeping up our enforcement efforts to maintain vigilance in higher-risk industries such as construction and manufacturing.”

According to him, investigations into workplace incidents showed a “general lack of ownership and emphasis on workplace safety.”

As we saw at this worksite today, there aren’t any fundamental control mechanisms in place, he declared.

At the construction site for 35 Gilstead, a 70-unit condominium complex along the Newton MRT, MOM police pointed out numerous problems to reporters, such as handrail-less staircases and open elevator shafts.

According to MOM, there were housekeeping violations such as planks left on the ground or on scaffolding platforms that put workers in danger of a slip, trip, or fall. Additionally, some of the barriers that keep workers from falling off the building were missing.

Reporters also observed a projecting starting bar that might injure workers if they fell into it, a protruding ladder, and nails sticking out of work items that were lying on the ground.

The major contractor, Trinity Construction Development, was given a stop-work order, and it immediately took effect. When reporters were permitted entry to the building, the majority of the staff were gathered on the ground floor.

The company will be informed of the required corrective activities by MOM officers on Monday or Tuesday. Work at the site cannot resume until the ministry has carried out a follow-up inspection.

Mr. Sng urged businesses and workers to put workplace safety first given that MOM uncovered employees who were not following the proper safety procedures.

The ministry will boost its inspections and submit more requests for external audits in order to maintain the improvements made during the period of improved safety. Those infractions will result in appropriate sanctions, he added.

According to Mr. Sng, businesses with serious infractions would also be subject to an examination of their management system in addition to the usual enforcement measures like fines and stop-work orders.

Workplace Safety Measures

In September 2022, the phase of heightened safety was implemented as the number of workplace deaths increased. Despite the fact that the rate of serious injuries increased, it helped to bring Singapore’s death rate down to less than one per 100,000 workers.

In May of this year, Senior Minister of State for Manpower, Mr. Zaqy Mohamad, asserted that the longer safety period was an ineffective plan since it required tighter enforcement and penalties.

Instead, the ministry implemented changes, including a new start date of October 1 this year and the inclusion of the industrial sector in a demerit points system for infractions of occupational health and safety. The mechanism is already in place in the building business.

Starting in June 2019, building sites with project values larger than S$5 million (US$3.7 million) will also need to install a video surveillance system in order to recognize threats, facilitate investigations, and deter dangerous behavior.

Mr. Sng claims that workers and others of the public can alert MOM to dangerous actions.

“Workplace safety must come first for all businesses and workers. Employees are encouraged to use SnapSAFE to report risky activity to their supervisors or MOM. According to MOM, the entire public is permitted to take the same action.

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