Commentary: Migrant workers keep Singapore running smoothly. Let’s keep them safe on lorries

When the issue was raised in Parliament in May 2021, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said the ministry was reviewing safety measures for lorries ferrying workers but that more regulations amid the COVID-19 pandemic would likely affect the completion of building projects and cause some companies to fail.

Last month, policymakers finally announced their plans. New regulations will soon require rain covers on lorries to shield workers from bad weather, a rest period for workers who double as drivers and assignment of a buddy to ensure the driver stays alert.

WILL SEATBELTS PROTECT WORKERS MORE?

While these incremental changes are helpful, there is still a case to be made for lorries to have seatbelts in lorries.

Research at Michigan State University, for instance, showed that seatbelt usage is critically important in reducing the likelihood of fatal and serious injuries in traffic crashes.

Global research on 46 countries by United Arab Emirates University faculty showed that unbelted passengers of vehicles have a 70 per cent higher likelihood of dying compared with those wearing seatbelts.   

A key reason for the lack of action, ItsRainingRaincoats founder Dipa Swaminathan told Today in October, is the cost.

She also noted, though, that mandatory seatbelts in school buses had been implemented despite being costly: “We don’t say, ‘Oh, it’s expensive to take all schoolchildren in buses fitted with seatbelts’. It’s just non-negotiable, right? But if for the rest of us it is non-negotiable, how come it’s negotiable just for workers?”

As former Nominated MP Kuik Shiao-Yin also said after the 2021 crash: “We would never put up with a lorry transporting our children, our students, our own workers this way.”