Construction workers ‘have a right not to come to work’ if environment is unsafe: Hawazi

Construction workers “have a right not to come to work” if they feel that the workplace environment is not safe, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Education Hawazi Daipi said in Parliament on Monday.

Hawazi was responding to queries after giving a speech addressing the recent spate of construction workplace fatalities that has struck the city-state.

He added that the Manpower Ministry also encourages whistleblowers to come forward if they feel that their employers have breached duties under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

“Starting from around second half of 2013, we began to see a decline in WSH (workplace safety and health) performance. In those six months, there were 22 construction workplace fatalities…This worrying trend continued into 2014, with eight out of the nine workplace fatalities in January coming from the construction industry alone,” he said.

In his speech, Hawazi also announced MOM’s multi-prong strategy to tackle the issue.

The ministry will “continue to apply for stronger penalties for cases where there are serious breaches of the law” and ask for “custodial sentences” on individuals who have disregarded the law. Furthermore, MOM will also press for maximum sentencing as allowed under the WSH Act.

Conditions for the lifting of a Stop Work Order will also be tightened. This may include “refresher training on key areas of weaknesses” and “re-audit of the WSH management system”.

They will expand the scope of the Business Under Surveillance (BUS) Programme to more companies. This programme is a strategic enforcement programme that targets poor performing companies for close monitoring and supervision.

Lastly, they will be reviewing and strengthening the Demerit Points System. The Demerit Points System is used to “identify contractors with poor work practices and restrict their access to foreign manpower if there is no improvement in their safety records”.