Good Practices for Prevention and Containment

of Covid-19 Spread in Worksites

Jocelyn Xu
Deputy Director, Audit & Inspection Group
Building & Construction Authority
Total No. of Slides: 12
CURRENT COVID-19 SITUATION
Need for Heightened Vigilance
• Increase in local COVID-19 cases and formation of new clusters in Singapore
• Emerging threats of new virus variants
• New cases in workers’ dormitories
• Construction remains a high risk sector with majority of the workers live in densely
populated dormitories
 Be extra vigilant and disciplined to adhere to the SMM requirements to minimize
the risk of worksite spread
 Continue to keep our worksites COVID-safe and protect our workers

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KEY ENABLERS FOR PREVENTION/CONTAINMENT OF COVID-19

PREVENTION CONTAINMENT
Ensuring that C+ infection does not spread beyond
Preventing the occurrence of outbreak
affected work zones
Access Control Safety Time Out
K Allow only healthy and approved • Allow worksite to come to safe stop
E workers into worksites • Contact tracing
Y • Disinfection of premises according
Effective SMM
to NEA guidelines
Ensure that all safe-distancing and
E segregation measures are practised
N
A Rostered Routine Test
B Review SMM Plan
Early detection to prevent further
L • Ensure potential gaps in SMM
spread
E are addressed and tightened for
R Additional Measures for High Risk Areas safe resumption of works
S Ensure that high risk personnel adopt
good SMM practices at worksites
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 PREVENTION VIA ACCESS CONTROL
• Only workers with ‘Green’ AccessCode are allowed entry. Do not use SafeEntry QR Code for check-in/out
and avoid displaying SafeEntry QR Code at
• From 17 may, all worksites should implement TraceTogether-only entrance to mislead personnel entering site.
SafeEntry
 Scan the TT token’s QR code
 Tap the TT token/app with the SafeEntry Gateway*
*download/upgrade the SE (Business) App to the latest version

‘Green’ AccessCode ‘Red’ AccessCode

Do not bypass and allow entry

Deny Entry

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PREVENTION VIA EFFECTIVE SMM FOR WORK ZONES
• Builders should adopt the following good SMM practices:
 Workers in same team to keep at least 1m safe distancing
 Workers from different teams to keep at least 2m safe distancing
 Workers should be grouped and segregated into teams by
accommodation, trade and type of activity to prevent intermixing
 Visual identifiers to differentiate the segregated teams
 Ensure all workers wear their masks properly

• Infographics on good SMM practices can be downloaded

from BCA webpage. Builders are encouraged to display the
posters at their worksites, to serve as reminders for all to
practice good SMM

Infographics on good SMM practices at work zones

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 EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICES OBSERVED

Use of clear visual identifiers

Clear Demarcation &

segregation of work zone
Segregation of rest areas and individually packed food
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 SMM BREACHES OBSERVED

No Segregation at Common Facilities Worker not wearing mask

TraceTogether not
activated

No indication of work zones and/or unclear demarcation of work zone

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PREVENTION VIA ROSTERED ROUTINE TEST (RRT)
• Employers should ensure that their employees attend their RRT for
early detection of COVID-cases
• RRT may be scheduled through the online Swab Registration
System (SRS) at https://swab.hpb.gov.sg/ext/login.aspx.
• From 18 May, all visitors and personnel entering construction
worksites must undergo at least 1 swab test and tested negative
within the past 14 days
• SCs and PRs can show their date of last swab test and results
using the HealthHub App or at https://www.healthhub.sg/.
• For MWs who missed their RRT, their AccessCode will turn “Red”

Last swab date must be within 14 days

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PREVENTION VIA ADDITIONAL MEASURES FOR HIGH RISK AREAS
• Roving Sub-Contractor (RSC) workers and delivery personnel pose higher RSC
risk as their social contact is amplified by visiting multiple sites
• The following good practices are recommended for RSC workers:
 Different Visual Identifiers – indicative logos on vest/helmet that they are RSC
 Closer monitoring of RSC workers operating on site by SMO
 Separate dedicated amenities (toilets, rest areas) from main workforce
 Briefing on enhanced SMM to RSC workers to reinforce responsibility ROVING
• The following good practices are recommended for delivery personnel:
 Ensure that delivery personnel check-in using SafeEntry
 Keep clear records of delivery information (e.g. delivery time/date, vehicle numbers, contact
details of delivery personnel and on-site workers who handled deliveries)
 Adopt contactless delivery and e-invoicing where possible.
 Loading/unloading to be carried out by on-site workers, and not delivery personnel where
possible
 Delivery personnel to avoid/minimise social interaction with on-site workforce

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CONTAINMENT VIA ISSUANCE OF STO & REVIEWING SMM PLAN

C+ Worker worked on Safety Time Out (STO)

site in the past 14 days will be issued

• Safety Time Out (STO) is issued when a C+ case is detected. Builders are required to:
 Submit Builder’s Compliance Report, SMM Plan and Worksite Safety Plan
 Disinfect the worksite according to NEA’s guidelines

• STO can be lifted within 3 days if Builder provides a prompt response with
 Adequate updated SMM and Worksite Safety Plan
 No non-compliance was found

• Builders are encouraged to deploy additional SE check-in (different branch code from the
main entrance) at zonal levels. This could facilitate issuance of partial STO instead of a full
STO to reduce the extent of work disruptions
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 CONCLUSION
• Industry has made great strides in properly implementing SMM at worksites, evident in the low
SMM non-compliance rate and low COVID-19 infection rate in recent months

• To remain extra vigilant to keep our construction sector COVID-Safe

• Builders can ensure minimal work site disruption and safeguard their workforce by focusing on
the following key areas:
 Deny entry of ‘Red’ AccessCode workers/personnel without swab in the past 14 days
 Use TT-only SE
 Adhere to SMM requirements
 Adopt good SMM for roving sub-cons and delivery personnel
 Monitor workers’ health daily and, if unwell, send them to the doctors early

• Vaccination will reduce the risk of infection and transmission. We would like to encourage all to
be vaccinated when it is offered to you and your employees

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Thank you
@BCASingapore