FACTORIES BILL

Order for Second Reading read.

2.34 p.m.

The Minister for Labour (Mr Ong Pang Boon): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Sir, the 1960s witnessed a fundamental shift in our economy, away from entrepot trade and related servicing activities to manufacturing. To attract foreign investment and to accelerate the pace of industrialisation, the Employment Act and the Industrial Relations Act of 1968 were enacted. Rapid industrialisation and economic growth ensued accompanied by a drastic fall in man-days lost through unnecessary work stoppages. Whereas in 1967 a total of 41,322 man-days were lost through industrial strife, in 1968 a loss of 11,447 man-days was recorded. In 1969, the figure fell to 8,512 and, in 1970, it fell further to 2,514.

Unfortunately, the incidence of industrial accidents exhibited an opposite trend. Fatal accidents rose annually from 68 in 1967 to 159 in 1970, while permanent disablement cases rose persistently from 598 to 886 between 1967 and 1970. Over the same period, man-days lost through industrial accidents rose appreciably from 99,539 in 1967 to 302,800 in 1970, an increase of around 300 per cent. In our essentially materialistic society, some employers still think of industrial accidents only in terms of dollars and cents. I would remind these employers that there are economic costs to industrial accidents which would include loss of output of the victim, monetary compensation, cost of damaged equipment, bottle-necks in production and training expenditure dissipated through accidents. The most painful aspect of industrial accidents, however, is the human suffering, anguish and misery caused by loss of life and health. The loss of a father, a husband, a loved one can never be compensated. To think otherwise is to brutalise our conscience.

The problem of industrial safety and health has to be tackled on many fronts. On the legislative front, the existing Factories Act enacted 14 years ago, when there was hardly any manufacturing industry of note, is increasingly adequate for our present changed circumstances. This Bill seeks to revise and improve upon the Factories Act. Some relevant provisions of more advanced industrialised countries, notably the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia, have been adopted with Xuitab1e modifications to fit our local environment. Both the Singapore Employers' Federation and the National Trades Union Congress were consulted, and some of their suggestions have been incorporated in the Bill. Altogether, there are 42 amendments and additions to the Factories Act. Consequently, it is neater to present a new Bill rather than amending the present one. As there are extensive amendments and in view of the Bill's importance, it is proposed to commit the Bill to a Select Committee of Parliament so that views of all interested parties can be considered.

The Bill seeks to repeal and re-enact with amendments the Factories Act (Cap. 123 of the 1970 Revised Edition) with a view to (a) improving the health and safety measures anti the welfare facilities of persons employed in factories; and (b) ensuring a more stringent observance of the safety provisions so as to reduce the rate of industrial accidents. The main provisions of this Bill are detailed in the Explanatory Statement to the Bill.

I would like, however, to draw attention to some of the more important changes. Clause 94 of the Bill empowers the Minister to appoint an Advisory Council for Industrial Heath and Safety. Hitherto, there was no institutional arrangement through which advice could be sought on matters pertaining to industrial health and safety. The proposed Advisory Council will have representatives from management, trade unions and professional bodies and will, therefore, be in a position to collectively advise the Minister on matters affecting safety, health and welfare

Another important innovation introduced by the Bill is the appointment of safety officers. Clause 64 of the Bill requires certain factories to appoint safety officers solely for the purpose of exercising general safety supervision and for promoting the safe conduct of work. With the rapid growth of the number of factories in Singapore, it would be physically impossible for the Factory Inspectorate to make regular and periodic inspections on all these factories. It would therefore be necessary to insist that management police their own factories and ensure that they are safe. In addition, factories employing 50 or more persons will be required to set up safety committees to promote health, safety and welfare in their establishments. The rationale behind this requirement, which is set out in clause 65 of the Bill, is that both management and labour which will be represented on the safety committee can jointly contribute and participate in the promotion of industrial safety.

In keeping with the Government's anti-pollution programme, the occupier of a factory will be required to take special preventive measures against the emission of harmful substances in the atmosphere. He will also be asked to provide appropriate protection for employees engaged in hazardous processes.

Clause 59 of the Bill will require the occupier to substitute, wherever possible, less harmful substances, processes or techniques for their more harmful counterparts.

The Bill also pays greater attention to workers engaged in occupations involving special risks to health. Under clause 62 of the Bill, the Minister can make regulations to require medical supervision and examination of persons employed in work involving special risks which are set out in the Seventh Schedule of the Bill. It has been established that nearly 65 per cent of the accidents have been caused by the negligence or refusal on the part of the worker to use safety appliances provided and observe the measures stipulated. Clause 73 of the Bill makes it mandatory for employed persons to use appliances provided and the safety measures instituted. In order, therefore, that this provision is strictly observed, it is necessary that the culprits are brought to book quickly and dealt with effectively. Clause 81 of the Bill, therefore, provides that any authorised police officer or Inspector of Factories may arrest without any warrant any employed person who has contravened clause 73 of the Bill and produce him before a Magistrate's Court. Alternatively, the police officer or Inspector can straightaway issue a notice requiring the offender to attend at the Magistrate Court to answer the charge.

Finally, the Bill provides for an increase in the quantum of fines or term of imprisonment imposed for all infringements of the Bill. For instance, under the old Factories Act, the penalty for operating an unregistered factory was a fine not exceeding $1.000 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months. Under this Bill, both the fine and term of imprisonment have been increased to $5,000 and six months respectively. Similarly, under the Factories Act, the penalty for an employed person found infringing the provisions of the Act is a fine not exceeding $500 or a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months. This Bill has now increased the fine payable to a sum not exceeding $2,000. Such stiffening of the penalties for infringements of the law is clearly needed if employers and workers are to be made to understand and appreciate that Government means business in its efforts to reduce the high rate of industrial accidents occurring today.

Question proposed.

2.46 p.m.

Inche Abdul Aziz Karim (Kallang): Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the Bill, in principle. The recent disaster at Jurong, resulting in the death of five workers and injuring a number of other workers, clearly underlines the need for the Factories Bill which is now before the House. It is pointed out in the Explanatory Statement to the Bill that changes made to the existing legislation, which are now incorporated in the present Bill, are for the purpose of (a) improving the health and safety measures and the welfare facilities in the interest of persons employed in factories; and (h) ensuring a more stringent observance of the safety provisions so as to reduce the rate of industrial accidents.

At this point, I should like to inform the House that the NTUC had been given the opportunity to make representations to the Ministry of Labour regarding the proposed amendments to the existing Factories Act, which are incorporated in the Bill before the House, even though most of its representations had been rejected by the Ministry.

It should be readily apparent to Members of this House that certain provisions of the Bill are highly technical and beyond the competence of any layman to comment upon without the benefit of any professional advice or guidance. As I have said, the Bill deals with topics on which it may not be possible for any layman to make any intelligible comment on them without the necessary or specialised knowledge and experience or without the help of a person with such knowledge and experience. Even though the NTUC have been handicapped to a certain extent by not understanding the full implications of the proposed Act, they have made a determined attempt to suggest certain measures which, although not incorporated in this Bill, may nevertheless confer additional protection on the workers. I, therefore, welcome the decision of the Minister to commit the Bill to a Select Committee. I would not go beyond that.

Dr Augustine H. H. Tan (Whampoa): Sir, I rise in support of this excellent Bill before this House. Students of economic history are well aware that industrial revolutions in the advanced countries in Britain, Europe, and elsewhere have all been achieved on the basis of the exploitation of cheap labour with little or no consideration for the human factor - the worker, his work and his living environment. As a late corner in the field of industrialisation, we can, and rightly too, learn from the mistakes of others. Had Karl Marx been an observer in Singapore today, instead of in Britain in the 19th century, he would not have found the material to write his Das Kapital, and we might not see the Communist regimes that we do find around us today. A free enterprise capitalistic system can work in economic terms, but it can work in humane terms only if there is a government which is socialistic in outlook and which cares for the distribution of income, for the environment in which the people have to live, and for the health, safety and welfare of the workers,

Mr Speaker, Sir, we have such a government. I hope the people of Singapore fully realise this fact, and continue to support such a government. Because in our context, with the leeway that we are giving to free enterprise to an essentially capitalistic economy, a government which does not have a socialistic outlook will mean a society in which there is a lot of injustice and a highly skewed income distribution, a society with all the elements of instability and all the seeds of revolution.

Mr Hwang Soo Jin (Jalan Kayu): Mr Speaker, Sir, I have only one small point to raise which I hope will be taken into consideration by the Select Committee. This concerns the question of training given to inexperienced workers. In a recent statement to the House, the Minister for Labour did say that one of the major causes of accidents is the lack of proper training given to workers. But I am rather surprised to see that clause 28 of the Bill, which is the particular provision dealing with training of inexperienced workers, is not made more explicit so as to enable easier enforcement. It merely says that sufficient training should be given. To what degree is the training "sufficient"? I think it is going to give rise to lots of arguments. I should have thought that it would be easier to impose a minimum training period or, if that is not possible, to make a provision whereby the Minister would be able to prescribe from time to time rules and regulations in this regard. A useful guideline could be that more hazardous processes should be subjected to a certain minimum period of training.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time.

Resolved,

"That the Factories Bill be committed to a Select Committee consisting of Mr Speaker as Chairman and the following Members:

Inche Abdul Aziz Karim, Member for Kallang,

Mr Chua Sian Chin, Minister for Health,

Mr Low Guan Onn, Member for River Valley,

Mr Low Yong Nguan, Member for Crawford,

Mr Ong Pang Boon, Minister for Labour,

Mr Seah Mui Kok, Member for Bukit Ho. Swee, and

Mr Sia Kah Hui, Minister of State for Labour." - [Mr Ong Pang Boon].