Jan 1, 8, 11, 14, 22, 26, 28, 29; Feb 7, 17, 27;
Mar 3, 4, 9, 11, 22, 24, 25, 31; April 1, 2, 16, 26 and May 16, 19, 23, 24 days
of workplace deaths in Singapore. Thirty-two thus far this year, which is six
more than for the same period last year.
A fortnight ago stronger regulatory
measures were announced, which met with resistance from building contractors. (The construction sector employing mainly cheap foreign labour a major source of the problem.)
Stiffer
penalties would worsen the "dire situation for meeting deadlines"; workers
also might suffer financially with extension of stop-work orders.
An MP
suggested "it all boils down to the workers."
One construction firm
had increased safety inspections from one a week to two.
The Humanitarian Organization for Migration
Economics (Home) executive director pointed to fatigue as an underrated
factor: twelve hours or more seven days a week, lapses could be expected.
Straits Times 25 May 2016
NB. As of 12 May,
fifty Australian workers
have been killed at work in 2016; nine
hundred and thirty-three in Malaysian workplaces in 2014.
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