SINGAPORE – The contractor of a condominium project in the Novena area has been issued a stop-work order after numerous safety breaches were uncovered by the authorities at the construction site on Monday.
At the 35 Gilstead worksite, several staircases had no handrails, lift shafts lacked barricades and some sides of the five-storey building did not have guard rails – posing a risk of falling from a height. Construction materials strewn around also created a risk of falls.
Nails and starter bars protruding from formworks were also observed by The Straits Times during a safety inspection, which was open to the media, conducted by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
According to workplace safety and health regulations, protruding nails should be removed while starter bars – steel bars or rebar used to reinforce in concrete – have to be covered to prevent accidents.
Outside the worksite, a sign read: “Safety begins here. Accidents are avoidable.”
Mr Silas Sng, divisional director of MOM’s Occupational Safety and Health Division, who led the inspection, said the ministry will be stepping up inspection and audit activities in higher-risk industries such as construction and manufacturing by 50 per cent over the next two months.
“Our investigation into workplace incidents uncovered a general lack of ownership and emphasis on workplace safety. Basic control measures are not in place, as we have witnessed at this worksite today,” he added.
“In some incidents, we found workers not following proper safety procedures. We call on all employers and workers to make workplace safety a top priority.”
The stepped-up enforcement comes in the aftermath of recent workplace deaths.
In June, a worker was killed after being electrocuted while installing solar panels on a rooftop. Three days later, another worker died when a wall collapsed during demolition works at a Tanjong Pagar worksite.
There have been at least 16 workplace deaths so far in 2023.
In a previous “heightened safety period” from September 2022 to May 2023, companies had to carry out a thorough review of their safety procedures. This had been imposed to curb a rise in workplace fatalities in 2022, when such deaths hit 46 – the highest yearly toll since 2016.
Trinity Construction Development, 35 Gilstead’s contractor, will have to rectify the safety lapses before it can resume work.
The condo, developed by Amcorp Global, consists of 70 units over three blocks and was slated to be completed in May 2023. Construction began in July 2021.
The contract awarded to Trinity is valued at $25.05 million.
According to real estate portal SRX, the condominium is fully sold.
Mr Sng said those responsible for workplace safety and health lapses will be penalised.
Companies with serious lapses may receive fines and stop-work orders, and will also be required to complete an audit of their management system within a month.
As part of a range of measures to strengthen safety, chief executives and board of directors of companies in higher-risk industries can attend a half-day safety programme online from Friday, before the requirement to do so kicks in from March 2024.
A demerit point system that is currently in place for the construction sector will be extended to the manufacturing sector from October. Under the system, companies that hit the demerit point threshold for safety lapses will be barred from hiring new foreign employees for between three months and two years.
Correction note: An earlier version of this article said the condo was developed by Amcorp Global and TG Development. TG Development has clarified that its related entity - TG (2013) - divested its interest in the project on Aug 25, 2022.
