About 1 in 3 workplaces inspected breached heat safety rules: MOM

Out of 250 workplaces inspected between March and June, about 30 per cent were found to have breached heat safety rules during these hottest months of the year, when recorded temperatures on certain days exceeded 36 deg C.

- Shabana Begum

At 78 worksites, employees were not given adequate rest breaks under shade for heavy physical work, or were not put through heat acclimatisation programmes, among other contraventions, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which conducted the inspections, said in mid-July in response to media queries.

Those workplaces included construction sites, shipyards, process plants and landscaping sites.

MOM said it took enforcement measures such as imposing fines and issuing notices of non-compliance, and the companies have since put in place the required heat safety measures.

The targeted inspections between March and June were the first since enhanced measures to reduce heat stress for outdoor workers were announced in October 2023.

Under the new measures, outdoor workers should get hourly rest breaks during periods of moderate or high heat stress, which is defined using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT).

The WBGT measures how heat affects humans, taking into account the effects of humidity, air temperature, wind speed and solar radiation.

For example, those doing heavy physical work outdoors should get 15 minutes of rest every hour when WBGT readings are 33 deg C or higher, indicating high heat stress.

Other measures include shifting outdoor work to cooler parts of the day and having scheduled hydration sessions.

High heat stress levels increase the risks of heatstroke, heat exhaustion and heat cramps.

The months from March to June are some of the warmest of the year.

In 2024, this period mostly coincided with the El Nino climate phenomenon, which brought drier, hotter conditions to South-east Asia and Australia.