AWSJ report: SG continues with growth and profits at ALL costs, smog notwithstanding
By Chun Han Wong
Smog conditions in Singapore have worsened to unprecedented levels, but a legion of workers in the island state have visibly kept plugging away outdoors, prompting public concern for their health and well-being.
The government has so far resisted calls to order a general halt to all outdoor work activities even though smoke from forest fires in Indonesia has pushed Singapore’s air quality into “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” levels for long stretches this week. Officials said they may issue so-called “stop work” orders if conditions worsen, but stressed that any measures would be gradual and targeted, and would complement existing guidelines requiring employers to look after their staff.
On Friday, as smog conditions intensified to a new record, some citizens took to the Internet to criticize their leaders for perceived inaction. Many posted photographs of construction sites across the island nation that purportedly show many laborers still working outdoors—some without masks—despite the hazardous air quality.
“Why are construction workers still on site? This is ridiculous,” Choo Zheng Xi, a lawyer and social activist, wrote on his Facebook FB +2.64%page. “I’m working from home in air-conditioning, and I have ash in my nostrils … can we please stop putting profits before people for once.”
Others noted that Singapore’s military has already reduced, and in some cases halted, outdoor training and questioned why the Ministry of Manpower, or MOM, wasn’t doing the same for the city’s hundreds of thousands of manual laborers, many of whom are foreigners who work in jobs such as construction.
If the Singapore military found it necessary to take action, “why can’t or shouldn’t MOM stop all outdoor heavy work?” Andrew Loh, a blogger and social activist, wrote on his Facebook page. “A clear sign that the importance of your health depends on which nationality you are?”
The Manpower Ministry regulates labor issues and workplace conditions, and a ministry-appointed commissioner for workplace safety has powers to order work halts over health and safety concerns. A ministry spokesman declined to comment on possible government orders to halt outdoor work, saying that the matter was under consideration by a government panel set up to tackle haze-related issues.
As of 8 a.m. local time Saturday, Singapore’s three-hour Pollutant Standards Index—a measure of air quality—was at 292, easing off an all-time high of 401 reached Friday. According to the National Environment Agency, readings between 101 to 200 indicate “unhealthy,” 201 to 300 “very unhealthy,” and above 300 “hazardous.”
Officials say they would pay closer attention to the 24-hour PSI levels—which averages readings taken over a 24-hour period—rather than the three-hour readings, as the former gives a better picture of the potential health risks. As of 8 a.m. Saturday, Singapore’s 24-hour PSI was between 179 and 246.
Singapore’s air quality had never reached “hazardous” levels before this week. Analysts have warned that an extended haze episode could hurt the city-state’s economy, due to potential declines in tourism and retail revenues and losses stemming from work stoppages.
Some employers have already taken initiatives to protect staff. The Singapore Flyer, the landmark giant observation wheel, on Thursday asked its employees to stop work until air quality improves to “a safe level.” Fast-food restaurants such as KFC, McDonalds, PastaMania and Pizza Hut have suspended their Singapore delivery services until further notice in an effort to to ensure the safety of their drivers.
Under Singapore law, the government can order any employer to halt work activities “until measures have been taken to ensure that the work can be carried out safely.” But officials have demurred on blanket nationwide steps to halt outdoor work, saying any measures would be gradual and targeted.
“We have to have a practical, flexible, and in a sense a tailored, customized approach to deal with the different demands and the different vulnerabilities that people will have,” Environment Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Thursday on a news program aired by state-owned broadcaster MediaCorp.
Under the manpower ministry’s existing guidelines, all “employers have a duty to protect their employees’ safety and health at work” during haze conditions, such as by providing masks and conducting regular risk assessments to determine if work can be done safely.
The guidelines require employers to halt work if conditions have worsened to the extent that risks can’t be mitigated even with precautionary measures. Those who fail to conduct risk assessments and act upon them can be punished with fines of up to 10,000 Singapore dollars ($7,800). Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$20,000, or both.
“Our areas of concerns remain focused on those working outdoors, especially if under strenuous conditions and/or being outdoors on a prolonged basis,” Acting Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin wrote Thursday on his Facebook page.
“We also need to ascertain essential services and how best to provide these in a manner that is safe for our workers,” he said.
But such reassurances have failed to win over some Singaporeans, who said that economic considerations were being overly prioritized.
“The next time somebody insists that Singapore does not pursue growth at all costs, just tell them this: workers made to toil in PSI 400 conditions,” Sudhir Vadaketh, a Singaporean writer, said on his Facebook page. “If this is not growth at all costs, I’m not sure what is.”
Others Singaporeans, growing impatient with employers who have kept their workers outdoors, have taken matters into their own hands.
The Online Citizen, a popular sociopolitical news website, has called on its readers to write in with names of companies whose workers were seen laboring outdoors in hazy conditions. “Hopefully, direct naming and shaming will have an impact,” it said on its Facebook page.
could be 1 of them 
