The road to getting construction workers back to their jobs is being paved now.
Construction work will no longer require approval from authorities, the Building Construction Authority (BCA) said on Wednesday (12 Aug).
Before, employers had to get permission before the workers can start work, owing to the Covid-19 situation.
But now, most of the dorms have been cleared of Covid-19.
BCA said this will help construction work resume quicker.
Construction workers won’t need get BCA approval to resume work.
This applies to work done outside construction sites.
This should benefit about 40,000 workers, many of whom have had to wait months due to work stopping during the ‘Circuit Breaker’.
However, contractors must still get approval from BCA for getting workers to sites.
Contractors also won’t need to make sure that the workers are from no more than 10 different accommodations.
This is in line with most dormitories being cleared of Covid-19. However, this is temporary and is meant to help construction restart faster.
Employers will still have to ensure that safe living measures are adhered to at accommodations.
They should also ensure as much as possible that the workers come from the same dormitories and that not too much intermingling occurs.
Due to the Covid-19 situation and the outbreak in migrant worker dormitories, the construction industry took a giant hit this year.
A decline of at least 10% was predicted, according to Business Times.
Now, however, there might be a road to slow recovery.
The sector won’t see the growth that was projected at the start of 2020 anytime soon, but it beats having a giant loss.
Now, the onus is on both authorities and employers to ensure that there isn’t another outbreak.
As Singapore rely heavily on migrant workers in this sector, we also have to ensure that they aren’t put in danger if they go back to work.
It’s the least we can do.
Featured image adapted from YouTube.
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