Maintaining Safety of Outdoor Workers Given More Frequent Occurrences of Extreme Weather Situations
Ministry of ManpowerSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns measures to protect outdoor workers during extreme weather and awareness of their right to halt work without penalty, as raised by Ms See Jinli Jean. Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng stated that guidelines allow delivery riders to seek shelter without repercussions and that new heat stress measures require employers to redeploy vulnerable workers. Safety information is disseminated via Ministry of Manpower platforms, the Workplace Safety and Health Council, and unions to ensure workers know their rights. The Ministry also encourages employers to share these updates directly with workers, including freelancers and platform operators, to enhance safety. These actions ensure that outdoor workers can avoid imminent danger from weather situations without facing financial or professional penalties.
Transcript
32 Ms See Jinli Jean asked the Minister for Manpower with higher occurrences of extreme weather situations indicated in the Third National Climate Change Study, whether the Ministry will consider (i) updating and expanding relevant measures to maintain the safety of outdoor workers, including platform delivery riders, during these occurrences and (ii) bringing awareness to outdoor workers, including freelancers and platform workers, on their right to remove themselves from imminent danger arising from bad weather without fear of reprisal or penalty by employers, hirers, or platform operators.
Dr Tan See Leng: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regularly reviews Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) measures to address the risks faced by outdoor workers.
In November 2022, the WSH Council worked with platform operators, employers and the National Delivery Champions Association on a set of guidelines to enhance the safety of delivery platform workers, including in adverse weather. For example, delivery riders would be permitted to seek shelter, without being subject to penalty or bonus arrangements, during bad weather. MOM also recently introduced new measures to reduce heat stress for outdoor workers, such as requiring employers to identify and redeploy workers vulnerable to heat stress in extreme hot weather.
MOM regularly disseminates information on such workplace safety measures through channels, such as MOM’s website and social media platforms, unions, the WSH Council and industry partners. Employers are also encouraged to disseminate information to their workers.