FOREIGN MAIDS (Provision of safety harness)

Mr Kenneth Chen Koon Lap asked the Minister for Manpower, in view of the many fatal accidents happening to foreign maids, whether he will consider making it compulsory for employers to provide safety harness, similar to that worn by construction workers, when the maids are asked to do cleaning work in high-rise buildings.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Sir, my Ministry had studied various options to check the spate of accidents involving foreign domestic workers (FDWs) falling from high-rise windows. While the use of safety harness was a possibility, we concluded that it is not the best way to resolve the problem of foreign domestic workers falling while cleaning windows in high-rise buildings. Safety harnesses are used when workers have no option but to work in places where there are no secure foothold or handhold and the risk of falling is high. Foreign domestic workers should not be required to carry out any work under such risky conditions at all. If they are required to clean windows, they should use appropriate cleaning equipment with extended handles to reach the difficult spots. They do not have to stand on chairs or stools or climb out of the building to clean windows. The requirement for the use of a safety harness is also not a fail-safe measure as evidenced by the number of construction workers who suffered injuries or died from falls. A safety harness must be worn and secured properly in order to be effective. Employers and foreign domestic workers, unfamiliar with the use of safety harnesses, may endanger themselves. In fact, its use may create a false sense of security with more employers asking their foreign domestic workers to do dangerous work leading to accidents.

Sir, the problem is best addressed through proper public education and raising awareness among employers and their foreign domestic workers of the danger of cleaning windows in high-rise buildings. Most foreign domestic workers come from rural areas and are thus not familiar with working and living in an urban environment. Employers should ensure that their foreign domestic workers are properly oriented and trained when performing household duties. Singaporeans who employ foreign domestic workers have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that their foreign domestic workers work safely and securely in their homes, free from unnecessary risks, harassment or physical abuse. Employers should not compromise on the safety and welfare of their foreign domestic workers.

Sir, to help raise the awareness of our employers of the likely hazards of household work, my Ministry had in October last year, sent a circular to all employers of foreign domestic workers to remind them to exercise greater care when assigning household cleaning duties to their foreign domestic workers. Early last year, we had issued an information kit to all employers of foreign domestic workers. The information kit highlighted the employers' role and responsibility and includes a training checklist for employers to discuss potential safety hazards that the foreign domestic workers may encounter while performing household chores.

My Ministry has also produced an orientation video for new foreign domestic workers coming to Singapore for the first time. Amongst other things, the video advises foreign domestic workers to lock the window grilles before cleaning high-rise windows, and not to climb out of the window to clean the windows or to retrieve objects that may have fallen onto the window ledge.

We will continue to educate and raise the awareness of employers and their foreign domestic workers. The Work Permit Department is currently working on a new information kit that will be issued to foreign domestic workers in their own language. The kit will also draw the attention of the foreign domestic workers to the precautionary measures that need to be taken when they perform various domestic chores. We believe that our effort will minimise risk and accidents involving foreign domestic workers.

Mr Kenneth Chen Koon Lap (Hong Kah): Sir, does the Minister really expect that just by educating the employers so that they could teach their maids how to clean high-rise windows, it would be effective? Secondly, the Minister said that the maid is not supposed to do such a dangerous job. But I think we all know that we cannot prevent employers from instructing their maids to do such a chore. Thirdly, the safety harness is not really that difficult to use. Apart from a safety harness, can the Minister suggest something concrete, apart from just advising the employers to ask their maids to be more careful? Is there any other way that can ensure the safety of the maids?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Sir, the answer to the Member's first supplementary question is yes, we believe that public education will be effective in minimising such accidents. It will raise the awareness among employers that in fact there are safer ways to clean windows, and there is really no need for them to ask their foreign domestic workers to put themselves in such a dangerous situation.

As to whether foreign domestic workers are supposed to clean windows, I think cleaning windows is, of course, part of domestic chores. But it is the way they clean the windows. As I have said in my answer earlier on, most windows in high-rise buildings and, in fact, in HDB apartments where most of our people live in, the HDB has assured us that the windows can be cleaned using the right cleaning implements without having to climb out of the window or to expose yourself to any danger of falling out of the window.

He said that the safety harness is not difficult to use. It still requires a certain amount of training. It requires the installation of the appropriate anchor points for such safety harnesses. Safety harnesses have got to be inspected regularly to ensure that they are not subject to damage through wear and tear. I am just quoting to the Member what we have to do in the construction industry, and despite the elaborate and very massive efforts, we still do encounter accidents of foreign construction workers falling from heights. In fact, it is probably one of the biggest causes of accidents in the construction sites.

So, let us not assume that just by requiring the foreign domestic workers to use a safety harness, we would have eradicated the problem completely. In fact, my fear, shared by the officers in the Ministry when we considered this problem last year was that if you require a safety harness, it would give people a false sense of security. They would just give the foreign domestic worker any old safety harness they come across, tie it to any anchor point and say, "Now, you climb out of the window and do this dangerous work."

Let me say that cleaning a window from the outside of a building is not a domestic task. It requires specialised window cleaners who are trained to do such work. Any employer who does so and force the maid to climb out of the building to clean the windows is obviously out of his mind. Would the employer himself or herself do such a thing? And if you are not prepared to do it, why would you get somebody else, who is totally untrained and unfit for this task, to do so?

Our job is to educate our people and say that you must not adopt such a callous attitude towards the foreign domestic workers. They deserve your care and your protection. They have come from a far off country to work in your home. You should look after them.

I also like to point out that every case of a foreign domestic worker falling from a high-rise window and getting injured or dying as a result will be thoroughly investigated by the police. I just want to repeat that the police will, in fact, investigate thoroughly into the cause of death, including whether there was any criminal negligence involving the employer or any other person. If there is evidence that criminal negligence is involved - I understand that criminal negligence is an offence in the Penal Code - then I can assure Members that the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers will not hesitate to act according to the law. So it is not as if we are totally powerless against unscrupulous employers who deliberately, wilfully and unfairly force their foreign domestic workers to undertake such a dangerous and hazardous task. There are already laws which cover such a situation. If the investigation reveals such evidence, we can already proceed under the existing laws.

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, it is life that we are talking about, although they are foreign maids. And I am surprised that the Ministry of Manpower is not taking any concrete steps, as Mr Kenneth Chen has said. I disagree that ---

Mr Speaker: Mr Chiam, can I ask you to ask your supplementary question?

Mr Chiam See Tong: Sir, could the Minister ask his Ministry to think over and implement the use of a safety harness for foreign maids when they clean windows? Instead of giving them a false security, in fact, it will make both the employers and the maids aware that it is a dangerous task and to take precautions. The fact that a safety harness is to be used, they will probably be aware of the danger at that point of time.

As regards criminal law, as far as I know, no employer has been prosecuted for criminal negligence for asking the maid to clean windows. I am not aware of any case where an employer had asked his maid to climb out of the windows. Normally, they clean the windows at the edge. Do they require the maids to climb out of the window? If an employer requires his maid to climb out of the window, then there is probably a case of criminal negligence.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, I do not want to belabour the point about the use or misuse of safety harnesses. We have been through that already. We have examined this proposition. We have concluded that it is not the best way to deal with the problem. We will proceed on the basis that continuing education of the employers of foreign domestic workers is the best way of tackling this problem at source. If we require the use of safety harnesses, then we are telling the employers that, in fact, please go ahead and put their maids into all kinds of dangerous situations. Just have them use a safety harness and they will be fully protected. It will be all right for them to do so. I think it is totally unjustified for us to expect these women coming from a village in Indonesia or the Philippines to suddenly climb out of a window or to stand on the window ledge on the 25th floor of a building to clean the window. It is out of this world. How can we imagine that they should be put in such a position just because we have given them a safety harness? I think it is wrong to take such a position.

We should take the position that no employer on his own would want to ask the maid to do such a task. There are already existing equipment. One can walk into any supermarket or department store and maybe for $10 or even less, he could buy himself a cleaning device that allows him to reach every part of the window. Then why are we talking about having to have safety harnesses and so on and so forth?

On his other point, I thank the Member for his contribution that if there is evidence of criminal negligence, then a prosecution can be sustained. Even though no employer had been prosecuted in the past, it does not mean that no employer will be prosecuted in the future. If, in fact, police investigations reveal evidence of criminal negligence, as I have assured Members earlier on, I have no doubt that the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers will proceed according to the law.

Mr Bernard Chen (West Coast): Sir, can the Minister consider publicising the punitive measures which can be taken against employers? Sometimes the maid has no choice when she is instructed by the employer to clean windows. But if the employers know that if they do that and the penalty is very severe, then they will not ask the maid to do it.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, I will certainly ask my Ministry to do that and to continue to reinforce this message. We have been doing so, as I have mentioned in my earlier answer, and we will update the information kit that we issue both to the domestic workers and to the employers to caution them on this particular aspect of domestic work.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: Maybe the Ministry should consider conducting a short course to educate foreign domestic maids on the proper ways of cleaning windows in high-rise buildings, because there are certainly other safer ways to clean windows. But I think many a time, these maids, on their own initiative, climb out of the windows.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the training of foreign domestic workers, whether it is before they come to Singapore or after arriving in Singapore, is a matter that is best left to the private sector. There are already, if I remember correctly, nearly 1,000 employment agents involved in recruiting such domestic workers. I think we can leave it to them to provide the appropriate level of training for these domestic workers. In fact, some of the training is done in the home country before they actually leave the country. In some other cases, community organisations, such as the Marine Parade CDC had offered such training for domestic workers. This is all to be supported. We can leave it to the employment agents and the community organisations to run such courses rather than asking my Ministry or the Work Permit Department to conduct such courses. I think it is more appropriate for a wide variety of suppliers for this service to run the courses and to train the maids according to the needs of the employers. Members have to understand that some people employ foreign domestic workers not just to look after children or clean windows. Some employ them to look after the aged. So what particular aspect of the training should we focus on? I think we should leave it to the private sector. They know what the customer wants the foreign domestic worker for. Therefore, they would provide the right level of training.

Mr Chiam See Tong: I understand that there are about 50,000 maids in Singapore and that 86% of Singaporeans live in highrise flats and many of them employ foreign maids. I would think that probably, taken from just pure statistics, there will be one or two more maids falling from the windows. Under what sort of circumstances will the Minister do something concrete for maids?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Sir, we are already taking concrete measures to improve the situation by way of educating the employers of domestic workers. Mr Chiam is quite wrong there. There are more than 50,000 maids. We have more than 100,000 foreign domestic workers in Singapore.

As to whether another accident will happen or not, my sincere and earnest hope is that it will not happen again as a result of this widespread publicity on the dangers of such window cleaning, and our educational effort to get the employers to be more careful and conscientious in the way they treat their domestic workers and the way they assign duties and chores to them. But accidents may still happen. We cannot rule out accidents completely.

Mr Chiam See Tong: If the Minister is not going to do anything concrete, maybe I would ask the Minister to provide the information kit and the video that he talks about to Town Councils so that Town Council staff could study or look at them, and maybe pass the message over to the residents.

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Sir, all our information kits are sent directly to the users. The video is sent to the employment agents because they are the ones responsible for bringing in the foreign domestic workers into Singapore in the first instance. Their responsibility is to show the video to the foreign domestic workers upon arrival to orientate them. All our other information materials are sent to the employers of the domestic workers or to the foreign domestic workers themselves at their place of work. If the Member for Potong Pasir wants to have a set of it, I see no difficulty. We will be very pleased to extend a set to him.

Dr S. Vasoo (Tanjong Pagar): I am trying to find out why Mr Chiam wants to blame the Ministry for the problem because it is a problem of human failing. The Ministry is trying to educate the families in terms of how to deal with the maids as humanely as possible. I do not understand why he wants to impose on the Ministry. It is a personal problem. It is a problem dealing with the families and the maids.

Mr Speaker: Order. Dr Vasoo, what is your question to the Minister?

Dr Vasoo: My question is: why is Mr Chiam blaming the Ministry for a family's problem?

Mr Speaker: I do not think that is your question for the Minister.