Public feedback sought on on proposed safety code for platform workers

Code of practice will account for specific risks and cover standard workplace requirements

- Kok Yufeng and Esther Loi

Ride-hailing and delivery platforms that impose time limits on workers for reaching pick-up points or completing deliveries of food or goods will soon be expected to cease such practices.

These online platforms should also remind workers to take safety precautions during bad weather and not penalise them for it, under a proposed industry code of practice that aims to set safety and health standards for platform workers and operators.

The draft code, which provides practical legal guidance, has been put up for public feedback from Sept 4 to 30 by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council, a statutory body under the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Platform workers are defined as delivery workers, private-hire car drivers and taxi drivers who use online matching platforms, like Grab, foodpanda and Lalamove, to provide transport and delivery services.

The draft code also sets out the responsibilities that such workers have in ensuring their own health and safety, stating that platform workers should also not forsake safety for monetary incentives.

For instance, they should ask for help to split loads that are unmanageable. Should the workers decline to take up loads that are too heavy, platforms would be expected to compensate them for the time they spend travelling to the pick-up location.