Impact of Controlled Entry and Exit Points in Buildings for SafeEntry Scanning on Fire Safety

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the current practice of cordoning off most entrances and exits of buildings to facilitate SafeEntry and temperature screenings at a single entrance point presents a fire safety risk.

Mr Speaker, the requirements in respect of the cordoning of entrances and exits of buildings as part of the COVID-19 safe management measures aim to also not increase the fire safety risk. Building owners must continue to comply with fire safety requirements and ensure that the exits and entrances that are cordoned off must be readily accessible during emergencies. For example, the physical barriers that are used as cordons must be easily removable to allow evacuation in an emergency. Clear notices or signage must also be prominently placed to inform the public.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force has communicated the fire safety requirements to all building owners and will continue to conduct regular enforcement checks to ensure compliance.

I appreciate the answer. I am sure the Minister would appreciate that, during an emergency, time is of the essence and there is often a great deal of panic and confusion. So, while it may be that the emergency exits remain open, the fact that they are out of bounds in normal circumstances might condition people to rush to the one exit that they know remains open and that could become a choke point. So, has SCDF considered this risk and how does it intend to mitigate that, beyond what the Minister of State mentioned just now about having signage to ensure that people are aware that the exit can actually be opened.

Sir, I thank the Member for the Supplementary Question. We recognise that it is important for us to let the public know and be socialised about how the exits and entrances work during an emergency. As such, it is important that we work very closely with the malls and building owners. SCDF has been doing that and has been encouraging malls and building owners to inform their customers and those who go to the buildings about some of the safety aspects and, at the same time, place clear signage. In fact, we are heartened that Singaporeans are also very concerned about fire safety. If you follow the media, quite a number have written to the media to share their concerns. As such, we have also been engaging building owners regularly. I would like to urge members of the public, that if they have concerns about fire hazards, they can call us at 1800-280-0000 use SCDF's "myResponder" app or email us. This is something that we believe in and want to work with the public on, and while we will continue to manage and enhance our system, as well as engage the public and building owners.

We are very heartened that Singaporeans have come on board and are making sure that Singapore, regardless of the situation that we are in, with the various Safe Management Measures (SMMs) in place, will continue to look at and ensure fire safety.