FACTORIES ACT (Review)

Mr Cyrille Tan asked the Minister for Manpower, with the growth in the chemical, electronics, financial and information technology industries and the effect on workers' health from waste and chemical disposal giving rise to the risk of chemical contamination and leakage as well as from prolonged working hours on the computers, what measures are being taken by his Ministry to review the Factories Act to make it a more broad-based legislation.

Encik Othman bin Haron Eusofe (for the Minister for Manpower): Mr Speaker, Sir, the current Factories Act in Singapore provides for the safety, health and welfare of persons working in premises defined as "factories".

Factories within the chemical and electronics industries are therefore covered under the Factories Act. The workers in the financial and information technology industries including those who have to work with computers are not presently covered under the Act. The workforce covered by the Act is about 700,000, which is about one-third of the total workforce.

Since its enactment in 1958, the Factories Act has been amended several times. The last amendment in 1995 extended the coverage of the Act to premises such as laboratories, warehouses and aircraft parking bays. My Ministry is considering further extension of the coverage to workers engaged in maintenance work on the MRT and LRT, ie, repair or maintenance work carried out on any rail, track, including viaducts and tunnels. However, there is a limit to which the Factories Act can be extended, beyond which the term "factories" would become meaningless.

My Ministry is currently reviewing the safety health legislation to ensure that workers, including knowledge workers of the future, will be adequately protected at work. New legislation on Occupational Safety and Health may be required to cover such workplaces and to promote greater self-regulation by employers and manufacturers of machinery, equipment and work tools.