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1.     Mr Speaker Sir, I thank the Member for raising concerns about the transportation of workers in lorries. We are equally concerned about the safety of our workers. 

2.     Our goal, to improve safety in transportation, is a work in progress, and we will seek to do more and do better. 

3.     But this is a goal that cannot be achieved solely through the efforts of the Government. For there to be enduring change, this goal needs to be shared by all stakeholders. 

Overview of Recent Measures

4.     Over the years, government agencies have been reviewing and studying this issue on a regular basis, to ensure that transportation of workers is done as safely as possible. Just last year, I announced four new measures during the Committee of Supply debate. However, what is less salient perhaps, is the many hours of careful policy consideration, stakeholder engagement before and after the announcements, that agencies put in, to be able to roll them out with the stakeholders’ support. The industry and workers themselves will need time to react, adapt, and comply. Thereafter, the Government will also have to review the effectiveness of the measures. These are measures which affect both lives and livelihoods, including those of the workers themselves, and that is why we need to approach them carefully and holistically.

5.     These new measures have been rolled out progressively. We released the Interagency Advisory on Safe Transportation of Workers on 31 Dec 2022, which provides practical guidance to employers and workers on the new and existing legal requirements, and recommends practices to enhance safety of workers on lorry transportation. The requirement for dual role drivers to have sufficient rest and the appointment of a designated “vehicle buddy” came into force on 1 Jan 2023. The requirement for in-use light lorries used to ferry workers to install rain covers just came into effect on 1 Jul 2023, and will come into effect for heavy lorries on 1 Jan 2024. MHA is working with the industry to implement speed management devices in all lorries, and will announce more details when ready. These are all in addition to the earlier requirements for lorries to be fitted with canopies and higher protective side railings, lower speed limits and minimum space requirements.  

6.     We believe that these efforts will build on the earlier enhancements, and further improve the safety of our workers. The average number of fatalities from road traffic accidents involving persons onboard lorries has declined from around 6 from 2013 to 2017, to around 3 from 2018 to 2022, even as we recognise that one fatality is one too many. The average number of injuries has also reduced by one third, from 522 from 2013 to 2017, to 359 from 2018 to 2022. As I mentioned earlier, we will need to give the industry and workers time to adjust to the measures. We will then review them, and continue to work with the industry to explore further enhancements. 

Key Challenges

7.     The Member has called on the Government to ban the transportation of workers on the back of lorries. Let me re-iterate that from a road safety perspective alone, it would be ideal for lorries not to carry any passengers in their rear decks. We have acknowledged this multiple times in the House. 

8.     However, this is not a matter of legislating, or imposing rules, and expecting compliance from the industry without regard for wider implications and unintended consequences. Simply mandating that workers travel on buses or banning the transport of workers on lorries, without considering ground realities and constraints, is not a realistic solution. Setting a timeline without understanding the varied concerns of all stakeholders is also not meaningful or workable. Transporting workers on lorries is a practice that cuts across various sectors and industries. Hence, we must understand the different challenges faced by each sector, and ensure that our measures are effective, implementable, and sustainable.

9.     Let me recap some of the key challenges. First, there are insufficient private buses to meet the needs across various sectors. A full transition to transportation via buses could require at least a doubling of the number of large private buses today. This will have knock-on effects on the rest of society, including more congestion. 

10.    Second, operating buses also requires a different driver’s license. Members may have seen recent articles about shortages of school bus drivers, resulting in some bus operators cancelling their service contracts despite underlying demand for school bus services. In fact, the shortage of bus drivers is not limited to the school bus sector. A wider shift to mandate the use of buses will likely exacerbate this shortage and affect other bus service providers, including public buses. 

11.    Third, the nature of business of many micro, small and medium enterprises, such as those in specialist trades, require them to be able to transport a small crew of people together with some equipment and/or goods to several different locations in a single day. It is neither practicable nor productive for them to have different vehicles to transport workers, equipment, and goods. Making it mandatory for them to do so may lead to decisions which impact the livelihoods of their workers. 

12.    On a similar note, while the intent of the Member’s recommendation to have designated drivers is a good one, smaller enterprises, in particular, will find it challenging to employ full-time drivers. The recent MOM measures of at least 30 minutes rest immediately before driving for dual role drivers who have worked 6 hours, and designating a vehicle buddy is intended to address the concern of driver alertness. I do want to assure the Member, however, that the 12-hour daily limit of working hours includes the time spent driving, as that is considered part of work. 

13.    The Member has suggested that the Government consider providing funding to larger construction companies, dormitories, and bus operators to facilitate this shift. As I explained earlier, at its core, the challenges are not necessarily financial in nature, and if so, funding would not be an effective remedy.

The Way Forward

14.    Mr Speaker Sir, we have therefore taken a different approach, a multi-pronged approach, towards addressing the issue. Our agencies are looking at specific sectors, engaging the companies that have been able or are open to shifting to buses, understanding the specific pain points and seeing how adoption can be scaled up. Today, there are already several bus companies that provide such services to transport workers. Besides Tong Tar Transport Services, which I had previously mentioned, other examples include Bedok Transport, Hui Leong Transport Service and JK59 Transport Pte Ltd. We are similarly studying these use cases to see how they can be scaled up, as well as other possible modes of transportation that may be used. Industry will be best placed to spearhead this effort as they best understand the ground needs and challenges. The Government will work with the industry and consider any further support required, but this will need to be effective and sustainable. 

15.    Mr Speaker, this approach will take time and effort, as well as many difficult conversations as we grapple with the realities and constraints. Our agencies are working hard on the ground, and I seek the support of the House as we continue to work together with our workers, associations, and industry, to bring about further effective and sustainable improvements to the safety of our workers. In the meantime, we are pressing ahead with the implementation and monitoring of the set of measures we had last announced at COS 2022 to enhance worker safety, even as we look at how we can further transit from the use of lorries.