Greener Pastures for Cleaners
29 July 2009
Media Release
1. Recognising that cleaners play a critical role in our daily lives but are often unappreciated or unnoticed, the Labour Movement (LM) works with partners in the public and private sectors to improve the jobs and lives of cleaners by ensuring that they receive fair pay, undergo training to move up the job value chain, and work in decent and safe environments.
2. Today, the LM and tripartite partners are announcing two new initiatives for the cleaning industry and cleaners - the Best Sourcing Initiative (BSI) Early Adopters Scheme, and the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Guidelines for Cleaning and Custodial Services.
3. And for the first time in Singapore, we are celebrating Cleaners’ Day with 300 cleaners being treated to high tea, games and free personal photography shots at Swissôtel The Stamford Hotel today. The Cleaners’ Day get-together is co-organised by the Unit for Contract and Casual Workers (UCCW) of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), the Building Construction And Timber Industries Union (BATU) and ISS Facility Services Private Limited (ISS).
BSI Early Adopters Scheme to Push Best Sourcing
4. UCCW and e2i (Employment and Employability Institute), together with BATU, work closely with buyers and service providers of cleaning services in the public and private sectors to level up the cleaning industry so that cleaners’ jobs are elevated to commensurate pay. A cornerstone programme is BSI where cleaning contracts are awarded based on performance and quality instead of solely on price.
5. ISS, a cleaning service provider with more than 3,500 cleaners in Singapore, is a strong supporter of BSI. With BSI, ISS is able to invest in staff training and development, job mechanisation, job re-design and enlargement to expand the job scope of workers for them to advance their career. These are made possible because the company does not bid for cleaning contracts with cut-throat low prices.
6. Ms Khuzaimah binte Muanan, 47, with primary six education, joined ISS four years ago as a cleaner in the National University Hospital doing general cleaning such as mopping the floor and washing toilets. Through job re-design and training, her job was expanded from general cleaning to include food services, inspection management and team supervision. Khuzaimah is now a Facility Services Specialist earning 35% more than four years ago. “With not much education, I was afraid of computers in the past. But now, I use a PDA at work to inform nurses that beds are ready so that patients can be admitted faster. My husband and children are surprised that I use a PDA at work, and they are happy that I get to learn and do different things on my job now,” she said.
7. To encourage more organisations to embark on BSI, the Workforce Development Agency (WDA) is funding a $2 million BSI Early Adopters Scheme, administered by UCCW and e2i, to help organisations defray cost incurred in the adoption of BSI practices as organisations pay more for better quality service. For a start, the programme will target organisations in the Cleaning, Building Maintenance, Security and Landscaping sectors.
WSH Guidelines for Cleaning and Custodial Services to Create A Safer and Healthier Working Environment
8. In the course of their day-to-day work, workers in the cleaning and custodial services sector are exposed to work hazards which may cause injuries and/or pose health threats to them. To protect them from work injuries, the tripartite Cleaning and Custodial Services Sectoral Workgroup has released a new WSH Guidelines for Cleaning and Custodial Services today.
9. The WSH Guidelines for Cleaning and Custodial Services provide cleaning contractors and companies that hire such contractors with technical information and practical tips on WSH practices for cleaning activities. This includes identifying work hazards and preventive measures that can be undertaken by companies and workers on the ground. Combining industry players' experience, research on overseas resources, and validations by subject specialists, this is the first set of WSH guidelines developed specially for the cleaning industry. A series of engagement activities with companies and workers will be organised over the next few months to raise awareness of WSH practices, in conjunction with the release of the guidelines.
10. Elaborating on the objective of the guidelines, Mr Samuel Tso, Executive Director of the WSH Council, said, "One of the WSH Council's key roles is to set acceptable WSH standards across different sectors. This new set of guidelines is part of our efforts to raise the safety standards and enhance practices in the cleaning and custodial services sector. With strong partners like NTUC and the key stakeholders in the sector involved in the development of these guidelines, we are confident that they will be practical and useful for cleaning contractors and customers to enhance the safety of workers within this sector. We will continue to work with relevant players in the sector to improve workplace safety standards."
11. SembWaste Pte Ltd, the largest waste collection company in Singapore unionised under BATU, places employees’ safety as top priority. The company conducts on-site risk assessment of collection location’s situation and environment before a new job commences. This ensures that foreseeable hazards and risks are highlighted to the waste collection team who are new to the location. Other safety measures include provision of safety boots, gloves and uniform; daily updates on location routes and situations; monthly safety talks; and annual road safety campaigns. A 43-year-old crew member of SembWaste’s waste collection team, Mr Kamar bin Yusoff, said, “We handle many unknown waste material every day, which may be toxic or dangerous such as sharp objects hidden in garbage bags. However, I have no worry about this as I wear protective safety boots and industrial gloves. Our jobs may be dangerous, but whenever I hear tourists praising Singapore as a clean country, I feel so proud.”
Appreciation for Cleaners on Cleaners’ Day
12. 300 cleaners were treated to a sumptuous high tea at Swissôtel The Stamford Hotel on 29 July 2009. They also won prizes in games and received a free personal photograph and an appreciation gift of a vacuum thermal stainless steel food container. Celebrating the occasion with the cleaners were their employers, cleaning service buyers and providers, and LM’s tripartite partners. The Special Guest was Mr Lim Swee Say, Secretary-General of NTUC.
13. "Cleaners make an important contribution to Singapore by keeping it clean and hygienic. Each time Singapore is praised for its clean environment and litter-free streetscape, much credit must go to our cleaners,” said Mr Heng Chee How, Executive Secretary of BATU. He added, “They earn their wages with honesty and diligence, quietly and mostly unnoticed. All the more they should be recognised and appreciated by all of us."
14. “We also want to tell cleaners that we are working at improving their jobs so that they can earn a better living in a safer working environment”, added Mr Zainudin Nordin, Director of UCCW. He continued, “A cleaning job may be a low entry-barrier job but it is not a dead-end job. Under BSI, we have cleaners who move up the career path because they are able to take on expanded job scopes after training, job mechanisation and/or job re-creation, which are some of the key processes of BSI.”
