ANNEX - D

Office of Safety, Health and Environment

All staff and students

NUS Safety SOP on Management of Haze Situation

1. Singapore is affected by severe smoke haze due to forest fires in the region
periodically. This is due to the common practice of open burning to clear land
for agricultural uses. It can be made worse by dry seasons, changes in wind
direction and poor precipitation. Prevailing winds sometimes carry smoke
haze produced by the forest fires over Singapore’s skies. This is especially so
during the southwest monsoon season.

2. NUS is adopting haze mitigation measures recommended by the National

Environment Agency (NEA) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

a. As far as possible, the University shall continue to function normally. The

general NUS community operates and/or works in an indoor environment
which affords some protection against the haze.

b. N95 masks are generally not required for healthy persons. Please refer
to NEA, MOH & MOM advisories on who should use a mask and when to
use a N95 mask. See the following websites:

(1) NEA : http://www.haze.gov.sg/Faq/

(2) MOH :
https://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/pressRoom/Current
_Issues/2014/haze.html
(3) MOM : http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/haze/mom-workplace-
guidelines-2014.pdf).

(a) In general, a healthy person does not require a N95 mask for
short period of exposure to the outdoor haze environment. This
includes travelling between home and office/school, and going
out for lunch or meeting, etc.. N95 masks are generally not
needed in an indoor environment.

(b) Staff and students who are not feeling well, especially those
with chronic heart or lung conditions, elderly, pregnant women,
or any other medical conditions should seek medical attention
and advice before using the N95 masks.

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c. For staff and students who have to work outdoors for prolonged periods (continuous exposure for several hours),
doing field work, construction, maintenance, supervision and inspection, the following precautionary and protective
measures shall be adopted:

24-Hr PSI PSI < 100 PSI 101-200 PSI 201-300 PSI > 300
(Good/Moderate) (Unhealthy) (Very unhealthy) (hazardous)
Description
1 Work activities (MOM Guidelines) - Outdoor work
Healthy  Normal activities  Reduce prolong or strenuous  Avoid prolonged or  Minimise outdoor work
employees outdoor work strenuous outdoor work
 Minimise outdoor physical
 Conduct Risk Assessment.  Conduct Risk activities / exertion, even
Assessment. with N95 mask.
 Take appropriate action, e.g.
 Those with medical
- Those with medical condition to condition to be deployed
be deployed indoors. indoors.

- Reduce prolonged or strenuous  Avoid prolonged or

outdoor physical activities /
exertion, or
- Put on N95 mask for prolonged
exposure if required.
strenuous outdoor
physical activities /
exertion, or
 Put on N95 mask.

Elderly, pregnant  Normal activities  Minimise prolonged or  Minimise outdoor work  Avoid outdoor work
employee strenuous outdoor work
Employees with  Normal activities  Avoid prolonged or strenuous  Avoid outdoor work  Avoid outdoor work
chronic lung outdoor work
disease, heart
disease

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Office of Safety, Health and Environment

24-Hr PSI PSI < 100 PSI 101-200 PSI 201-300 PSI > 300
(Good/Moderate) (Unhealthy) (Very unhealthy) (hazardous)
Description
2 Work activities  As above  As above  As above  As above
(MOM
Guidelines) –
Naturally
ventilated
spaces
3 Work activities  As above  Put on N95 mask if working for  Put on N95 mask.  Minimise working even
(MOM prolonged hours. with N95 mask.
Guidelines) –  Those with medical
Laboratory with  Minimise prolonged working even condition to be deployed
single-pass with N95 mask. to other areas.
ventilation

Noted:

Prolonged = Continuous exposure for several hours

Strenuous = Involving a lot of energy or effort
Reduce = Do less
Minimise = Do as little as possible
Avoid = Do not do

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Office of Safety, Health and Environment

d. Contractors and service providers serving NUS. The University

communicates to its contractors and service providers that they need to
comply with the safety and health regulations as well as the NEA and
MOM guidelines on management of the haze situation. The University
works closely with the contractors and companies to ensure that they
conform to the guidelines and take care of their workers.

e. NUS staff and students with special medical conditions and working in an
indoor office environment. NUS staff and students who are with chronic
lung or heart disease, or stroke, or are elderly, and pregnant women,
should take appropriate preventive measures even though they are
working or studying in an indoor office environment. They are advised to
refer to NEA and MOH guidelines on use of N95 masks. They should
consult a medical doctor for advice and obtain their own masks, if
necessary. Please note that wearing an N95 mask increases breathing
efforts and may cause discomfort, tiredness or headache.

f. NUS staff/student indoor and outdoor activities and sports. NUS staff and
student sporting events and other activities are to follow the following
guidelines:

24-Hr PSI PSI 101-200 PSI 201-300 PSI > 300

(Unhealthy) (Very unhealthy) (hazardous)
Description
1 Student Activities (Physical)
Outdoor i. To cancel event i. To cancel event i. To cancel event
and activities. and activities. and activities.

ii. Outdoor sports ii. Outdoor sports ii. Outdoor sports

facilities will be facilities will be facilities will be
closed. closed. closed.

iii. To move event iii. To move event iii. Air-con facilities

and activities into and activities into will be closed.
air-con space, if air-con space, if
appropriate. appropriate.
Naturally i. To move event i. To move event i. To cancel event
ventilated and activities into and activities into and activities.
spaces air-con facilities air-con facilities.
ii. Air-con facilities
will be closed.
Air-con i. To proceed as i. To proceed as i. To cancel event
facilities planned. planned. and activities.

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Office of Safety, Health and Environment

24-Hr PSI PSI 101-200 PSI 201-300 PSI > 300

(Unhealthy) (Very unhealthy) (hazardous)
Description

ii. Air-con facilities

will be closed.
2 Hostels – sleeping arrangements
i. Students with special medical conditions (like pregnant, with
chronic lung disease, heart disease or stroke) will be given
priority for air-con rooms and spaces where available by the
respective management offices of Residential Colleges, Halls
and Residences.
ii. Local students may opt to return home; ii. Option for local
and may leave belongings in residences; students to return
but no refund of room charges and meal home – refund of
plan. room charges and
meal plan to be
administered.
iii. Use of communal
air-con spaces for
sleeping as
managed by the
respective
management
offices of
Residential
Colleges, Halls
and Residences.
(To be advised by
Director, Crisis &
Emergency
Management
(CEM) Team /
Haze
Management
Team at the point
in time).

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Office of Safety, Health and Environment

g. Dining and food outlets in NUS

(1) Naturally ventilated canteens and other food outlets. To ensure

that our food stall operators are not exposed to prolonged adverse haze
conditions, non-air-conditioned canteens and other food outlets may
operate on shorter hours when the 3-hourly PSI exceeds 200 as follow:

3-Hr PSI PSI 101-200 PSI 201-300 PSI > 300

(Unhealthy) (Very unhealthy) (hazardous)
Description
1 Canteens and other food outlets – Naturally ventilated
The naturally Nil Upon the approval by  Upon the approval by
ventilated Director, Crisis & NUS Crisis Executive
canteens and Emergency Group (CEG), closure
food outlets Management (CEM) of naturally ventilated
are as follows: Team, Office of canteens and other
Campus Amenities food outlets will be
a. Frontier in (OCA) will activate the activated by Office of
Faculty of following measures: Campus Amenities
Science (OCA). Staff and
 Opening hours: students are
b. Techno encouraged to
Edge in - Weekdays: patronise air-
Faculty of Monday - Friday conditioned food
Engineering outlets.
Shortened
c. The Deck in operational hours:  Upon the activation
Faculty of 1030hr–1430hr by OCA, food
Arts & Social caterers to prepare
Sciences - Weekends/ Public packed lunch for sale
Holidays: Closed. to students and staff
d. Terrace in (food to be pre-
NUS  Canteen operators ordered).
Business are advised to wear
School N95 Mask. - Caterers will be
willing to take
e. E-Canteen in  Vendors are to confirmed pre-
PGPR provide their own ordered food
masks. orders, for self-
f. Flavours @ collection by
U-Town  NUS staff and faculties/schools
students are and departments.
encouraged to Advance notice of
patronise air-con food 01 day will be
outlets. advised.

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Office of Safety, Health and Environment

(2) Air-conditioned food courts. The operating hours of air-conditioned

food courts remain unchanged. For more information, please refer to
http://www.nus.edu.sg/oca/Retail-and-Dining/Food-and-Beverages.html.

3. Staying indoors and seeking medical attention

a. For those with pre-existing medical conditions particularly those relating to

the lung, heart, asthma and allergies, the haze condition may trigger other
complications. As such, staying indoors is the key to safeguarding your
health.

b. If any staff/student is not feeling well, inform your supervisor and seek
medical consultation as soon as you can at the University Health Centre
clinic or at any General Practitioner clinic.

4. Please be advised the latest PSI readings and health advisories are available
on the NEA PSI webpage and through the following channels:

a. NEA website http://app2.nea.gov.sg/

b. NEA website http://www.haze.gov.sg/
c. NEA website http://www.haze.gov.sg/haze-updates/psi
d. NEA Contact Centre Hotline: 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255 632)
e. Send an SMS to 93 632 632 (93 NEA NEA)
f. NEA Twitter
g. NEA myENV App on iPhone and Android

5. University monitors the haze situation very closely and constantly reviews our
measures to ensure the safety and health of our staff and students. We will
update the NUS community on changes in the situation and provide the
necessary guidance as necessary.

Dr Peck Thian Guan

Director, OSHE, UCI
Director, NUS Crisis & Emergency Management Team
Chairman, NUS Haze Management Team

12 Nov 2014

Prepared by:
Yam Guan Shyh
Deputy Director/Head, Emergency Management Division
OSHE, UCI