The following article was published by Channel NewsAsia on 17 Jan 2006.
Workplace Safety Act passed to improve safety at workplace
Channel NewsAsia, 17 January 2006
SINGAPORE : The Manpower Ministry has moved to put in place a new and more effective framework to reduce accidents at the workplace and make Singapore a safer place to work in.
The Factories Act will be abolished and replaced by the new Workplace Safety and Health Act.
This Act will form the legal framework for the new Occupational Safety and Health regulatory System, and will cover all workplaces within the next 3 to 5 years.
The Nicoll Highway collapse, the construction site accident at Fusionpolis, and fire on the vessel "Almudaina" at Keppel Shipyard - these episodes in 2004 showed a need for better work safety standards.
"This Bill will put in place a new and more effective framework to reduce accidents at the workplace. It is expected to bring about a quantum leap improvement in OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) standards and to achieve our immediate goal of halving the present occupational fatality rate by 2015," said Manpower Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen.
The target is to cut deaths at the workplace from 4.9 per 100,000 workers to 2.5 in ten years.
Although Singapore's accident frequency rate has stagnated at about 2.2 since 2001, its safety record is still lagging behind other developed countries.
The Bill will require employers to conduct comprehensive risk assessments for all work processes, and provide detailed plans to minimise or eliminate risks.
In this, the Manpower Ministry says it plans to work with industries, including developers of new projects such as the Integrated Resorts, from the design stage to identify potential risks, rather than wait till the plans are submitted.
Manpower Ministry's officers will also have a new enforcement tool - the power to issue "Remedial Orders", where officers will be able to compel worksites to remove a workplace risk regardless of whether there is an imminent danger. Non-compliance can lead to a stop-work order.
Under the new Act, greater responsibility and accountability will be assigned to everyone, from rank-and-file workers to managers and directors of companies, even though they may not be directly involved at the workplace.
This is unlike the current Factories Act, which stipulates that the legal liability for safety and health in a factory lies primarily with the factory occupier.
"To engender a strong safety culture, commitment of top management is critical. Hence the Bill holds managers and directors of companies accountable for safety and health practices at their workplace under Clause 48, even though managers may not be able to police safety and health on the ground," said Dr Ng.
The Bill also contains a revised penalty framework to reflect the cost of poor safety management.
While the maximum fine for individuals remains at up to $200,000, the jail term has been increased from 12 months to 24 months.
For corporations, they can be fined up to $500,000.
"This Bill itself is not a solution but it will put into place an improved legal framework to get all stakeholders to embed occupational safety and health into their daily operations," said the Manpower Minister.
For a start, the Manpower Ministry will focus on improving the safety practices of sectors with the highest accident rates such as construction sites, shipyards and metalworking factories.
But it will gradually extend the scope to cover other workplaces including restaurants, hotels and the healthcare industry.
The Act is expected to come into force by the end of March.
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Saturday, January 7, 2006
It's time S'pore women face their demons
The following article was published in the Business Times on 7 Jan 2006.
It's time S'pore women face their demons
By Siow Li Sen, Senior Correspondent
Business Times Singapore, 7 January 2006
Too many are taking it out on the most vulnerable person in their home - the foreign maid
A WOMAN director at a bank once told me that she felt grateful to her mother and maid for looking after the household chores and her children, adding that she wished her mother would nag less, and that the maid would continue to be patient.
The director went on to say that to maintain peace at home, she often gave way to her mother.
I suspect the situation of the banker is repeated across quite a few families in Singapore where the grandma is the actual boss in a home which is not hers.
Singapore has the rather unusual phenomenon of elderly women killed or abused by maids, in addition to the numerous cases of maid abuse.
The nation was once again squirming with the release last month of a report by US-based Human Rights Watch which highlighted abuse of maids in Singapore - although the Ministry of Manpower points out that the report's standards of research and reporting misrepresent the state of the 150,000 foreign domestic workers who choose to work here.
Abuse which gets confirmed by the police has been declining. Maid abuse cases fell from 157 in 1997 to 59 in 2004. From January to September 2005, 32 cases were recorded.
This just accounts for the worst kinds of physical ill treatment. What goes under the radar is mental cruelty, which runs the gamut from incessant name-calling or nagging to threats of being sent home without pay, and denial of days off or even of contact with the outside world.
But such abuse is increasingly being recognised, so that in many of the past cases of employers or the employer's mother or grandmother being killed, the courts have taken it into account as mitigation and not imposed a death sentence.
It is a pity that in many of these cases, much is made of the positive points of the abusive or murdered employers, versus the aberrant behaviour of the maids.
I feel that what is worse is that there is hardly any light shed on what turns the 'loving wives/perfect mothers, doting grandmas' into monsters who pinch, beat and inflict physical, mental and verbal torture on maids - behaviour reminiscent of slave owners.
Researchers of civil society group TWC2 in 2003 found that of 147 reported abuse cases, more than two thirds of the abusers were women.
An Indonesian study done on problems faced by Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore listed problems with the grandmother, child or female employer among 10 main issues.
'The problem becomes heavier when the employer's grandmother is unkind or the children are badly behaved,' the study said. 'The conflict with the grandmother is often viewed to be worse than problems with the employer. A nagging female employer or grandmother is indeed considered as a problem by migrant domestic workers as opposed to a heavy workload that can still be endured.'
In quite a few of the cases that went before the courts, there was another common thread - absentee husbands, who were constantly out of the country because of their work.
All the men who testified in court claimed they typically never saw their wives lay a hand on the maids or ill-treat them in any way. Of course, since they were never at home, that's not surprising. At most, the men admit to hearing scoldings.
A few months ago, I witnessed a curious situation at a relative's home. In the presence of her employer and his mother, the maid was quite vehement about how the older lady was a 'difficult' person and she would not work for her even if her wages were tripled.
The employer kept quiet and did not tick off his maid for being so bold in speaking out against his mother.
I think most of us realise that there are hardly any angels in our families, but it is the woman who is usually the maid-bully.
Why? Is it because, despite the advances women have made here, they continue to shoulder the bulk of domestic chores, which can include looking after elderly relatives with little help from the men?
Or that despite having become successful, the women are lonely and alienated and so take it out on that most vulnerable person in their lives?
Or in the case of the nagging grandmas, do they make themselves useful by running their children's households because they are bored with their lives, and worry that relatives would gossip if they decide to live it up - but are still miserable with their choices?
Many of our elderly women also suffer from depression, progressive dementia or senility, and some families cope with this by denial, and as long as they can bear the situation.
If there is a maid, she often becomes the sole care giver of the elderly for most of the week and bears the brunt of the frustration or wrath of the grandma, in addition to doing the household chores.
The maid gets no rest - while family members can drop by for brief visits, and those who live in the same home can get some respite by going away or escape by just going out.
I suspect that even before many of the abuse situations come to light, the wives and mothers would have been for some time the most unhappy persons in the home, leading desperate lives, in addition to the maid.
Singapore women need to admit they are bored, depressed, sexually frustrated or whatever it is that makes them lash out, and take steps to help themselves.
Their men and children, too, need to see what is happening at home, instead of living in denial.
It's time S'pore women face their demons
By Siow Li Sen, Senior Correspondent
Business Times Singapore, 7 January 2006
Too many are taking it out on the most vulnerable person in their home - the foreign maid
A WOMAN director at a bank once told me that she felt grateful to her mother and maid for looking after the household chores and her children, adding that she wished her mother would nag less, and that the maid would continue to be patient.
The director went on to say that to maintain peace at home, she often gave way to her mother.
I suspect the situation of the banker is repeated across quite a few families in Singapore where the grandma is the actual boss in a home which is not hers.
Singapore has the rather unusual phenomenon of elderly women killed or abused by maids, in addition to the numerous cases of maid abuse.
The nation was once again squirming with the release last month of a report by US-based Human Rights Watch which highlighted abuse of maids in Singapore - although the Ministry of Manpower points out that the report's standards of research and reporting misrepresent the state of the 150,000 foreign domestic workers who choose to work here.
Abuse which gets confirmed by the police has been declining. Maid abuse cases fell from 157 in 1997 to 59 in 2004. From January to September 2005, 32 cases were recorded.
This just accounts for the worst kinds of physical ill treatment. What goes under the radar is mental cruelty, which runs the gamut from incessant name-calling or nagging to threats of being sent home without pay, and denial of days off or even of contact with the outside world.
But such abuse is increasingly being recognised, so that in many of the past cases of employers or the employer's mother or grandmother being killed, the courts have taken it into account as mitigation and not imposed a death sentence.
It is a pity that in many of these cases, much is made of the positive points of the abusive or murdered employers, versus the aberrant behaviour of the maids.
I feel that what is worse is that there is hardly any light shed on what turns the 'loving wives/perfect mothers, doting grandmas' into monsters who pinch, beat and inflict physical, mental and verbal torture on maids - behaviour reminiscent of slave owners.
Researchers of civil society group TWC2 in 2003 found that of 147 reported abuse cases, more than two thirds of the abusers were women.
An Indonesian study done on problems faced by Indonesian domestic workers in Singapore listed problems with the grandmother, child or female employer among 10 main issues.
'The problem becomes heavier when the employer's grandmother is unkind or the children are badly behaved,' the study said. 'The conflict with the grandmother is often viewed to be worse than problems with the employer. A nagging female employer or grandmother is indeed considered as a problem by migrant domestic workers as opposed to a heavy workload that can still be endured.'
In quite a few of the cases that went before the courts, there was another common thread - absentee husbands, who were constantly out of the country because of their work.
All the men who testified in court claimed they typically never saw their wives lay a hand on the maids or ill-treat them in any way. Of course, since they were never at home, that's not surprising. At most, the men admit to hearing scoldings.
A few months ago, I witnessed a curious situation at a relative's home. In the presence of her employer and his mother, the maid was quite vehement about how the older lady was a 'difficult' person and she would not work for her even if her wages were tripled.
The employer kept quiet and did not tick off his maid for being so bold in speaking out against his mother.
I think most of us realise that there are hardly any angels in our families, but it is the woman who is usually the maid-bully.
Why? Is it because, despite the advances women have made here, they continue to shoulder the bulk of domestic chores, which can include looking after elderly relatives with little help from the men?
Or that despite having become successful, the women are lonely and alienated and so take it out on that most vulnerable person in their lives?
Or in the case of the nagging grandmas, do they make themselves useful by running their children's households because they are bored with their lives, and worry that relatives would gossip if they decide to live it up - but are still miserable with their choices?
Many of our elderly women also suffer from depression, progressive dementia or senility, and some families cope with this by denial, and as long as they can bear the situation.
If there is a maid, she often becomes the sole care giver of the elderly for most of the week and bears the brunt of the frustration or wrath of the grandma, in addition to doing the household chores.
The maid gets no rest - while family members can drop by for brief visits, and those who live in the same home can get some respite by going away or escape by just going out.
I suspect that even before many of the abuse situations come to light, the wives and mothers would have been for some time the most unhappy persons in the home, leading desperate lives, in addition to the maid.
Singapore women need to admit they are bored, depressed, sexually frustrated or whatever it is that makes them lash out, and take steps to help themselves.
Their men and children, too, need to see what is happening at home, instead of living in denial.
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