Two new measures aimed at reducing the number of workplace death and incidents under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA)'s Subsidiary Legislation have come into effect on 1 June 2024. These measures are (i) increased penalties for maximum fines for safety breaches and (ii) video surveillance system requirements for companies in the construction sector.
Increased Maximum Fines
In order to serve as a stronger deterrence against breaches of the WSHA Subsidiary Legislation, the maximum fines payable for safety breaches that are a major cause of serious harm and could result in death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence has been increased from SGD 20,000 to SGD 50,000 for first convictions.
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Offence/Safety breach |
Maximum penalties for first conviction |
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Offences which are a major cause of serious harm, ie death, serious bodily injury, or dangerous occurrence. These include failure to:
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SGD 50,000 |
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Offences which are not a major cause but contribute to serious harm. These include failure to:
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SGD 20,000 |
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Less serious offences that are procedural or administrative in nature. These include failure to:
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SGD 10,000 |
Mandatory installation of Video Surveillance System
As part of the new video surveillance system requirements applicable to companies in the construction sector, all construction worksites with a contract value of SGD 5 million or more are required to install video surveillance systems at all worksite locations where certain, high-risk work activities are conducted, including:
- every area, including every floor of a building under construction, where the following work is carried out or intended to be carried out:
- work at height where a person may fall off or through a distance of more than 2 metres;
- erection, dismantling and the maintenance of scaffolds and formwork structures; or
- excavation works and shoring;
- every area where lifting operations are carried out or intended to be carried out or lifting machines are used (eg cranes, gondolas or mobile elevated working platforms);
- every area where industrial trucks (eg forklifts, excavators or steam rollers) are used;
- every area where vehicular traffic may cause danger to persons carrying out any work;
- every loading or unloading area; and
- every confined space where any work is carried out or intended to be carried out, if a video surveillance system can be safely installed.
Occupiers of construction worksites who are required to install video surveillance systems are also required to ensure that:
- the video surveillance systems are capable of:
- recording colour images in at least 1920x1080 resolution;
- recording images of at least 12 frames per second;
- supporting the export of recorded images or videos in .avi, .mp4 or equivalent format; and
- making recordings with a date stamp, time stamp and camera identification code which do not materially obstruct the recorded images; and
- recordings are kept for at least 30 days after the date the recording is made, or where a reportable incident has taken place, for 180 days after the date of the reportable incident.
Failure to comply with the video surveillance system requirements will attract a fine of up to SGD 20,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.
Key Takeaways
Employers must ensure that directors and senior employees are aware of the increased penalties associated with safety breaches under the WSHA Subsidiary Legislation. Compliance with safety obligations should be a treated as key agenda item, and its importance recognised from the top down and across all levels of the organisation.
Employers in the construction sector must now comply with the new video surveillance system obligations under the WSHA Subsidiary Legislation. Employers looking to install video surveillance systems should also review and implement clear policies on the use of any recordings in order to ensure that they are compliant with their obligations under the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 regarding employee personal data.
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP provides access to Singapore law advice through our Formal Law Alliance with Prolegis LLC.
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