Debated in Parliament on 23 Sep 2025.
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye asked the Minister for Manpower in light of the five recorded workplace fatalities in May 2025 (a) whether the Government has information on the number of companies that participated in the June 2025 voluntary safety timeout; (b) if so, what is the number; (c) how many Ministry inspections and enforcement actions were conducted during this period; and (d) what were the common safety lapses identified.
Following the five workplace fatalities in May 2025, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) called on companies across all industries to conduct voluntary Safety Time-Outs between 12 and 26 June 2025, with an emphasis on work activities involving vehicular safety and work at height. MOM did not track participation in the exercise.
MOM also ramped up our workplace safety and health inspections with more than 500 inspections conducted between April and June 2025 in high-risk sectors, such as construction, manufacturing and marine. Three stop-work orders and 110 fines were issued to companies and individuals for safety breaches. Common breaches found included the lack of control measures for working-at-height hazards, such as unguarded open sides and inadequate guardrails, and for vehicular hazards, such as not having traffic management plans.
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