Additional Safety Measures and Penalties for Demolition Works

12 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Manpower given the recent fatal accident at a demolition site (a) whether there will be additional safety measures for demolition works and additional penalties for infringements given the inherent danger for such construction works; and (b) what are the current penalties aimed at making the leadership of construction contractors accountable in preventing accidents and deaths from happening.

The Senior Minister of State for Manpower (Mr Zaqy Mohamad) (for the Minister for Manpower): Mdm Deputy Speaker, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) shares the Member's concerns of the recent fatal incident at a demolition site at Tanjong Pagar on 15 June. MOM is investigating the incident and had issued a full Stop Work Order to the occupier of the worksite.

There is an Approved Code of Practice – Singapore Standards SS 557 – that sets out standards of practice for the safe demolition of buildings and structures. As investigations are ongoing, we will review if any additional measures are required beyond those in SS 557 and after the investigations have concluded.

All occupiers and employers have the duty to provide a safe work environment for workers. Penalties under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act are calibrated based on the culpability of the offender and the severity of harm. Higher-risk activities such as demolition works require greater extent of risk assessment and preventive measures. Hence, incidents involving such higher-risk activities would generally attract more severe penalties, if the individual and/or company failed to demonstrate that reasonable steps had been taken to minimise the risk.

The Multi-Agency Workplace Safety Taskforce (MAST) had also earlier announced a set of Safety Accountability, Focus and Empowerment (SAFE) measures to strengthen WSH ownership across the entire ecosystem at the sectoral, company and worker levels. Chief Executives (CEs) will be required to personally account to MOM for serious WSH lapses following incidents, as was the case for the Tanjong Pagar incident. CEs and Board Directors of all companies in higher-risk industries are also required to attend a new Top Executive WSH Programme. This programme aims to focus their attention on how to meet their WSH responsibilities and develop their company's WSH capabilities.

Madam, we are saddened that there was a loss of life. Every worker deserves a safe and healthy work environment. All of us, corporate senior leadership, industry associations, union leaders and workers, must continue to play our part to uplift WSH and prevent workplace incidents from happening.

Mdm Deputy Speaker: Mr Yip Hon Weng.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mdm Deputy Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response. Demolition works are high-risk construction activities. Are construction workers trained to recognise tell-tale signs of structural collapse in demolition works and what are the reporting channels for such incidents? And does the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) require having Safety Officers on site to ensure that demolition workers are carried out according to plans by the contractors?

Mr Zaqy Mohamad: Mdm Deputy Speaker, indeed, works such as these, demolition works are certainly very high risk. And, therefore, that is why we have the Approved Code of Practice, SS 557, in place. All companies involved, from the main contractors all the way down, should be following and training their workers on this practice, Code of Practice. So, therefore, employers are required to train the workers on the demolition process, and this also includes identifying the structural issues that you might see on site.

I am aware that BCA does send its officers down for inspections but given the many demolition works that go on, from the big buildings to the Addition & Alteration (A&A) works, home renovations, for example, it is not possible to have officers all over, so they do this on inspection basis. But under the Code and under regulations, the companies involved should have safety officers and safety procedures in place.

So, I cannot comment specific to this particular case as investigations are ongoing, but we will release the results once they are ready.