HDB SAFETY

News September 2023 Issue 41

N ATIO N AL W S H
C AMPAI G N 20 2 3

The National Workplace Safety and Health

Campaign 2023 was launched by Senior
Minister of State for Manpower and Defence
Mr Zaqy Mohamad on 23 May 2023. The
theme for this year’s campaign is “ Reporting
Saves Lives”. The campaign calls for everyone
to play their part in caring for the safety and
health of the workers at the workplace.
‘As we exit Heightened Safety Period, we
need to recognise that it takes the collective
will, responsibility and effort of the entire
ecosystem to keep our workers safe and
healthy.’

Mr Zaqy Mohamad
SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE FOR MANPOWER
AND DEFENCE

Safety Accountability, Focus and Empowerment (SAFE) Measures

During the campaign, Minister announced the new set of SAFE measures developed by the
Multi-Agency Workplace Safety Taskforce to strengthen the WSH ecosystem and the role of each
stakeholder in uplifting WSH.

❏ Sectoral Level • Introducing a harmonised set of safety disqualification criteria for public
construction and construction-related tender participation for Government
Procurement Entities.

• Requiring Video Surveillance System for construction sites with project

values equal to or above $5 million.

• Ensuing safe use of machineries and combustible dust.

❏ Company Level • Requiring Chief Executives or top management to personally account to

MOM for serious WSH lapses.

❏ Worker Level • Introduce learning on high-risk work activities as part of Safety Orientation
Course recertification assessment.

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N ATIO N AL W S H
C AMPAI G N 20 2 3

‘To make the theme of the campaign work,

there has to be a culture of trust between
employers and employees. As employers,
you need to trust that when your workers
report an unsafe situation, they are doing it
to uplift safety for themselves and their co-
workers, not to disrupt or delay work.’
Mr Abu Bakar Bin Mohd Nor
CHAIRMAN OF WSH COUNCIL

Mr Abu Bakar shared that building

workplaces where workers feel safe to speak
up is one of the recommendations by MOM’s
International Advisory Panel on workplace
safety and health. He further emphasized that
everyone can do their part in caring for each
other’s safety by doing the following.

1. Employers – Set up an internal Reporting System where employees who spot an unsafe
situation can report them to their bosses.
2. Workers – Report any unsafe practices or conditions to their bosses.
3. Members of the Public – Report any unsafe workplace to the Ministry of Manpower using
SnapSAFE.

Members of the Multi-Agency Workplace Safety Taskforce (MAST) launching the event.

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
S OLAR PAN EL S Y S T E M S

In 2020, HDB launched the Green Towns

Programme, a 10-year plan to make HDB
towns more sustainable and liveable. One
of the focus areas is to reduce energy
consumption in HDB towns by 15% (from
2020’s level) by 2030. This could be achieved
by harnessing solar energy through the
installation of solar panels at the rooftop of
HDB blocks to power common services with
clean energy.
To support the programme, there
would be large-scale deployment of
solar panels at the rooftop of HDB blocks Potential Hazards Arising from
islandwide carried out under the SolarNova Installation of Solar Panel Systems
programme. The installation works may ❏ Workers falling from height
pose a safety hazard to the workers or injury ❏ Material or tools dropping off the rooftop,
to the public if they are not carried out causing injury to the public
properly. ❏ Electrocution
❏ Toppling of crane during lifting of the solar
panels

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
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In June 2023, there was an incident where

a piece of steel bracing dropped from the
rooftop onto the ground level during the
installation process. The cause of the incident
was due to the inappropriate method of
securing the steel bracing. As a result, the
steel bracing slipped from the loose rope
knot and dropped.

Good Safety Practices for Installation of Solar Panel system

1. Pre-Installation of Solar Panel System
The contractor is required to perform the following before commencement of the installation work.
❏ Survey the worksite for issues such as gaps or sharp edges
❏ Implement risk control measures such as temporary edge protection to open sides
❏ Install covers over openings to prevent any materials from falling through

Rooftop with Open Sides Installation of Barricades

Openings at Rooftop Installation of Covers over Openings

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
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2. Lifting of Solar Panel Systems

Setting-up Mobile Crane

❏ Ensure all the outriggers are fully
extended and resting on firm and
stable ground
❏ Steel plates or timber mats should
be placed under the outriggers to
evenly distribute the weight

Cordon off the Work Area

❏ Demarcate and barricade the lifting
zone with warning signs to prevent
any unauthorized person from
walking into the work zone

Permit-To-Work System
❏ Apply Permit-To-Work before any
lifting operations
❏ Ensure that no suspended load is
moved or maneuvered over any
person at all times

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
S OLAR PAN EL S Y S T E M S

3. Installation of Solar Panel Systems

In order to optimize the number of solar panels

installed so as to generate the most solar
energy, the panels are installed up to the edge
of the buildings where possible. As the works
are carried out near to the building edges, the
risk of workers falling from height or falling
objects increases. Therefore safety measures
should be implemented to mitigate the risk.

Built-To-Edge Solar Panel Systems

Personal Protective Equipment

❏ Ensure that workers working near the open
sides of the building are equipped with
appropriate Personal Protective Equipment

Workers equipped with Personal Protective Equipment

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
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Secure all Structures and Handheld Tools

❏ Ensure that all the structures of the solar panel are secured with carabiners and rope to
the mounting structure prior to installation to prevent them from dropping off the roof

Structure secured
with carabiners

Mounting
Installation of Solar Panel Structure structure

❏ Ensure that all handheld tools are properly

secured e.g. to the harness, to prevent the
tools from dropping off the roof

Handheld tools secured to harness Solar Panel secured with carabiners

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
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Cordon Off Work Zone

❏ Before installing the solar panels at the edge

of the building, the contractor is required to
cordon off the work zone at the ground level
❏ Deploy a worker to warn and prevent any
unauthorized person from walking into the
work zone

4. Electrical Safety Work zone barricaded during installation works

Electrocution is a major concern during the
installation of solar panels. Solar panels
generate live current when exposed to sunlight,
even when they are not plugged in.
In June 2023, there was a fatal accident in
one of the private solar projects where a worker
was electrocuted after coming into contact with
an exposed cable.
❏ Deploy only trained and competent
workers to carry out the electrical work
❏ Provide workers with electrically resistant
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such
as arc-rated protective gloves and rubber-
soled shoes

To prevent electrical injuries, the contractors

are advised to carry out the following:

❏ Establish a Lock-Out-Tag-Out system before

carrying out electrical work

LEW carrying out work with electrically resistant PPE

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S AF E I N STAL LAT I O N O F
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❏ Insulate all exposed electrical parts to

prevent accidental contact

❏ Test that electrical equipment and cables

are not live e.g. using a voltage detector,
before working with it

Exposed cables covered with insulating cap Use of Voltmeter to test the electrical equipment

❏ Stop all electrical

works during
unfavourable
weather e.g.
when there is a
lightning risk or
when the work
area is wet
Use of Lighting Detector to monitor lightning risk

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EAS Y B ARRI C A D E
S Y STE M By WSHO Sathish Chinnadurai, M/s Straits Construction

In HDB worksites, workers are required to elevate themselves to carry out works along the
common corridor such as the erection/dismantling of formworks and skimming of slab soffit. As
the works are carried out at a level higher than the parapet wall, workers are at risk of falling from
height.
In addition, there is risk of tools and formworks components falling over the parapet wall,
causing potential injury to workers at ground level.

Workers elevated to carry out works along common corridor without effective fall protection

Easy Barricade System

To overcome the safety hazards, M/s Straits
Construction invented the Easy Barricade
System which allows the workers to work safely
when elevating themselves higher than the
parapet wall, and at the same time, prevent any
materials from falling out of the corridor.
The Easy Barricade System comes with a
steel bracket that clamps onto the precast
parapet. Together with the vertical pipes and
mesh barricade, it forms a full barricade system
which eliminates the risk of workers falling from
height.
Easy Barricade System

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EAS Y B ARRI C A D E
S Y STE M By WSHO Sathish Chinnadurai, M/s Straits Construction

Installation of Easy Barricade System

1. Installation of Steel brackets 2. Slot in the vertical pipes 3. Secure vertical pipe with pin

4. Installation of mesh barricade 5. Completed Easy Barricade System

WSH Innovation Award 2023

With this Easy Barricade system, M/s Straits
Construction is able to mitigate the risk of
workers falling from height and at the same
time prevent materials from falling out of the
buildings. As a result, this innovation has won
the WSH Innovation Award 2023.

The Team behind the Easy Barricade System

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Editorial Team

Er Goh Keng Cheong All rights reserved.

Samuel Tan No part of this newsletter may be
Ja’afar Harjoh reproduced in any form without the
Zen Chew written consent of HDB

HDB Safety eNews September 2023 | Issue 41

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www.hdb.gov.sg