Actions were taken against some 62 firms in 2025 for non-compliance with the Ministry of Manpower's enhanced measures to reduce heat stress for outdoor workers, said Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash on Monday (May 11).
Dinesh, who is also Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, revealed this after visiting a Land Transport Authority (LTA) worksite in Tampines, currently occupied by homegrown construction firm Hwa Seng Builder (HSB).
While the number represents a nearly 60 per cent drop from 2024, he cautioned against complacency, saying it is "still early" to see if this represents a downward trend.
"We continue to put up our efforts and to be as proactive as we can be, to make sure that heat stress is not an issue that affects our workers and our businesses," Dinesh said.
He emphasised that while there are measures in place under the Workplace Safety and Health Act to ensure compliance, companies which are proactive and "doing good work" will be "rewarded".
While Dinesh did not elaborate on the rewards, the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council presents the WSH Awards annually. The award recognises companies and individuals for performing well in safety and health by implementing exemplary management systems.
According to the council, the awards raise the credibility of winning companies and help attract more business opportunities.
'We have to take care of our workers'
Stressing that heat stress is preventable, Dinesh reiterated that temperatures across the world are rising due to climate change.
He noted that those working outdoors, such as in the construction sector, can be disproportionately affected by its effects.
"Even when the numbers are in our favour, and we don't see very many heat stress cases in worksites, it's still important to make sure that our workers are protected and make sure that we are ahead of the curve," Dinesh said.
He added: "We have to take care of our workers."
During his visit, the minister of state was shown how HSB integrated the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to conduct trend analysis for its automated real-time Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) device installed onsite.
The readings are fed into an AI model to help generate trends and analysis, including suggested mitigation measures.
These are then fed to more than 10 variable message signs (VMS) located across the worksite, prompting workers on what measures they can take in the prevailing temperatures.
They are also fed into a Telegram channel, providing supervisors and managers with forecast and recommendations to aid in their decision making for the scheduling of works.
Asked about the cost of implementing these additional alerts beyond the mandated need for WBGT, Lim Eng Boon, director of projects at HSB said the cost of implementation runs up to a few thousand dollars.
"But its not about the immediate costs that we are talking about. It is the long-term operational costs that we are saving over the years," Lim explained, pointing out that prior to using automated WBGT and AI, at least one worker is needed to manually measure the outdoor temperatures.
"We would have saved the costs for this worker, in turn, he can be assigned to do other higher level works," Lim added.
Other measures implemented at HSB's worksite include cold water dispensers, provision of isotonic drinks, ice distribution and placement of 60-inch big fans at resting areas to ensure that workers remain cool.
At the rest areas, roofs are also cladded with heat insulation to ensure that these places do not get too hot.
"Most of our implemented measures are from ground-up feedback from our workers," Lim quipped.
And it seems no idea is too small, with a water sprinkler mounted on the roofs of resting areas to cool these places when temperatures are higher.
This, after a worker said: "It's good to have short periods of 'rain' when its hot".
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