Suppliers' Safety Record and Compliance with Manpower Policies amongst Factors Taken into Account in Award of Government Contracts

123 Ms Hazel Poa asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance whether a supplier’s track record in terms of safety standards and compliance with manpower policies are taken into consideration in awarding Government contracts and whether suppliers with serious lapses will be banned.

Mr Heng Swee Keat: Companies doing business in Singapore are required to comply with prevailing employment and safety regulations. Any company with poor safety standards, or who has infringed manpower policies will be taken to task in accordance with the law, regardless whether their offences are related to public or private sector contracts.

Where it is relevant to the tender and likely to impact the supplier’s or the industry’s ability to safely deliver the goods or services, agencies will consider the supplier’s track record, including his safety or employment practices.

For instance, in public sector construction projects, safety-related criteria such as MOM’s demerit points accrued by contractors for safety lapses, amongst other safety considerations, account for 15% to 20% weightage in the Quality evaluation. For cleaning, landscape and security services, the Government has committed to buying only from providers that have consistent track records in their employment and professional standards and pay their workers according to the Progressive Wage Model.

In addition to the above, a supplier that has committed serious safety lapses may also be excluded from being awarded government contracts for a period of time. As mentioned in MOM’s COS earlier this year, MOM is reviewing the workplace safety requirements expected of tenderers participating in public sector construction contracts and will be releasing further details later this year.