New AI system helps detect unsafe behaviour at construction sites; 36 workplace deaths in 2025

At a construction site in Paris Ris for the upcoming Cross Island Line (CRL) Punggol extension, one of the 31 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras detects a worker without his helmet. 

Within seconds, his supervisor receives a notification alert on Telegram, along with a four-second footage of the errant behaviour. 

The lack of personal protective equipment is one of the three hazards that was shown to the media on Tuesday (Feb 10) to demonstrate SafeSite Video Analytics — a surveillance system for construction sites which has been on trial at the 6ha Pasir Ris construction site since August last year. Ten of the 31 CCTV cameras are equipped with the AI system. 

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the system can also detect when a worker goes into a higher risk area without authorisation, or strays too close to a machinery or moving vehicle, or under suspended loads such as cranes. 

The AI-enabled cameras are installed in higher-risk areas, such as vehicular and pedestrian walkways, and the perimeter of the construction site. 

The footage is analysed in a centralised dashboard, which allows government agencies — including the Land Transport and MOM — as well as contractors to monitor workplace safety across multiple sites simultaneously. 

MOM said that SafeSite will be also trialled during works for Riviera MRT station, which is one of the four MRT stations along the CRL Punggol extension, and extended to 14 construction sites. 

Passenger service is expected to start by 2032 on the CRL — Singapore's eighth MRT line. 

Out of the 124 CCTV cameras at CRL construction sites, only the 10 in Pasir Ris are AI powered . 

Workplace safety and health manager Farhan Shah Ghaffa told reporters that supervisors like him previously had to manually review footage from all the CCTV cameras to flag unsafe acts in construction sites, which can be "labour intensive, time consuming and subjected to human error". 

There have been teething issues since the trial began six months ago, according to Farhan. 

These include connectivity issues, the upkeep of the cameras to ensure that they can run round the clock, as well as fine-tuning the AI-powered cameras to detect the hazards.

But he said that SafeSite has created a "mindset shift" towards workplace safety among workers.

Besides being able to intervene within 15 seconds, the surveillance system promotes greater safety awareness and also acts as a deterrence against unsafe acts. 

SafeSite was introduced by Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash in July 2025, as part of Singapore's push to keep its workplace fatality rate to below one death per 100,000 workers by 2028. 

Dinesh, who witnessed the SafeSite demonstrations on Tuesday, said that Singapore's fatality rate for 2025 was 0.96 deaths per 100,000 workers — the lowest since 2021. 

This corresponds to 36 workplace deaths for the year, said an MOM spokesperson. There were 43 such deaths in 2024. 

"But every fatality is a fatality too many, and we need to make sure it is as low as we possibly can," said Dinesh. 

With the new surveillance system on trial, the number of unsafe practices at construction sites have decreased, said Dinesh. 

"When the cameras are around, that becomes the permanent safety officer that is constantly watching and it allows for the right behaviours that we want to see inside worksites," he said. 

"This allows for productivity gains… we don't need to have so many people just watching the workers do their work." 

MOM said that the insights from the trials will be compiled into a "playbook" which developers and contractors can use to adopt similar surveillance systems into their building projects. 

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chingshijie@asiaone.com