COVID-19: The Construction Sector Will Gradually Resume Come 2 June 2020

The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will allow construction work to resume in a controlled manner after the COVID-19 circuit breaker period ends on 1 June 2020. The resumption of work will be done in phases.

The Multi-Ministry Taskforce made the announcement on 15 May 2020.

BCA Chief Executive Officer Hugh Lim stated that a gradual resumption was necessary to minimise the risk of new COVID-19 outbreaks among construction workers.

Currently, around 20,000 workers, or 5 per cent of the construction workforce, are still working on critical infrastructure projects.

Come 2 June 2020, the BCA will allow another 5 per cent of the construction workforce to resume operations for other critical projects.

“These will be projects that cannot be left idle for too long, due to safety concerns as well as critical and time sensitive projects such as MRT and Deep Tunnel Sewerage System tunnelling projects,” said Mr Lim.

Previously suspended residential renovation works will also be allowed to resume.

However, all works will require approval from BCA before they can restart.

Foreign workers must be tested before they can return to work, and construction projects must put in place adequate safe management measures.

COVID-Safe Restart Criteria

Employers must demonstrate their ability to meet the following three criteria before projects can restart. They must show that they have:

• A COVID-Safe Workforce by taking steps such as downloading the contact-tracing app TraceTogether; establising a system to track the daily health status of workers and managing workers’ interactions on rest days; as well as regular COVID-19 testing for the workforce.

• A COVID-Safe Worksite by using the national digital check-in system SafeEntry to record all entries and exits; having strict safe management measures enforced at worksites to prevent outbreaks, such as segregating workers by teams into different work zones.

• A COVID-Safe Worker Accommodation and Transport by taking steps such as grouping workers by projects at their places of accommodation; and providing dedicated transport between work sites and places of accommodation.

On Other Sectors

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong stated that most of the community cases still occurring in the country appear to be related to work and home.

For administrative and office related functions, these operations should still be home-based where possible.

He stated: “To prevent work related cases, employers will be required to implement safe management measures in the various workplace settings when they resume operations. Telecommuting will remain the default.”