Safety Measures for Worker Transport in Phases

The following article was published in TODAY on 19 August 2009.

Reproduced photo caption: Foreign workers crowded on the back of a pick-up truck. (Photo from TODAY)

Greater safety in phases

By Lin Yanqin

TODAY

19 August 2009

AFTER nearly 18 months of consultation and study, the measures to enhance the safety of workers being transported in the open back carriages of lorries have at last been finalised.

However, it will be another three years before the full slate of measures — which include installing canopies and higher side railings on the back of lorries — are rolled out, as they will be implemented in phases, beginning next month.

This led some Members of Parliament to wonder aloud yesterday if three years were too long a lead time, given that “life and limb” are at stake.

“(Installing railings) is a very simple job, so why do you need three years to do that?,” asked Aljunied MP Cynthia Phua.

The three-year time period, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Teo Ser Luck, is necessary to give lorry owners time to comply.

“We have to consider the businesses and the small and medium enterprises as well, cost factors are also a consideration for them, and we also have to know in the medium term what they can do (or can’t do),” he said.

In the meantime, some new measures will take effect next month, and lorry owners also face stiffer penalties if they do not comply. For instance, the penalty for carrying more workers than allowed has been raised to $500 for the first offence, up from $200, with harsher penalties for more serious cases.

In announcing the new measures, Mr Teo pointed out that the current measures have been “generally effective”, with annual average fatality and injury rates at about six times lower than the corresponding rates for all vehicles over the past few years.

“The evidence from the accident figures does not suggest that a drastic change to the policy is warranted,” he said.

But how could this be, given that a case in which 16 foreign workers were injured occurred just two weeks ago, questioned Jurong MP Halimah Yacob.

Mr Teo did not respond directly to her query but stressed that safety is “paramount”.

With the cost of installing side railings estimated to be $400 to $800, and the cost of installing canopies about $1,500 to $3,000, industries will no doubt feel some pain.

But the Singapore Logistics Association’s land transportation committee chairman Poh Key Boon said it is better than imposing a total ban on the transportation workers on the back of lorries, as it is not always cost-effective to charter vans and buses to transport a few workers.

Companies should do more to incentivise safe driving, such as giving cash bonuses, Mr Poh said.

NEW MEASURES

From next month:

• No part of a seated worker may be more than 1.1m from the carriage deck

• Passenger seats of lorry cabins must be filled before workers occupy the rear carriage

• Enforcement operations and outreach efforts to be stepped up

• Penalties for non-compliance enhanced

• LTA hotline (1800-CALL LTA) for public to report instances of non-compliance

From next January:

• New lorries to carry workers on carriage deck must be fitted with higher protective side railings

• Canopies must be installed

• Lorries have until Aug 31, 2012, to comply with new rulings

From Sept 2012:

• Minimum deck space required per seated worker will be doubled to 8 sq ft so that fewer workers can be transported on one vehicle

(c) 2009. MediaCorp Press Ltd.