Gov’t unveils new safety measures for handling higher-risk machinery, combustible dust

14% of fatal and major injuries, with 60% of these cases in the Manufacturing sector.

The Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce (MAST) will be introducing enhanced measures to strengthen workplace safety and health (WSH) standards for higher-risk machinery and combustible dust.

MAST defines higher-risk machinery as industrial machinery that has a higher propensity to cause serious injuries.

MAST said that manufacturers and suppliers will need to ensure that machineries are designed, examined and tested to be safe when properly used, and provide information about how to use them safely. Installers and modifiers must also ensure that any installation or modification carried out does not compromise the safe use of the machinery.

With these new requirements, buyers of more types of machinery would be better assured that their purchases meet the required safety standards. If additional assistance is required, buyers can contact one of the inspection companies listed under MOM Inspection Programme for Safe Machines.

Meanwhile, the list of machinery in the WSH Act Fifth Schedule will be expanded to include more classes of higher-risk machinery. The additional classes are listed in the Annex. Existing duties under sections 16 and 17 of the WSH Act will also now apply to these types of machinery.

To prevent an explosion in the workplace arising from explosive or flammable dust, suppliers and occupiers must label packages or containers of combustible dust to state the associated hazards and communicate on its safe use in the workplace.

For organic combustible dust such as flour or starch, the labelling requirement applies to packages or containers at 25kg and above.

Additionally, occupiers need to notify MOM and building owners/landlords if they are handling specified combustible dust at or above the threshold quantity as stipulated in the Fourth Schedule of the WSH (General Provisions) Regulations.

These measures will come into effect on 1 January 2025.

The measures implemented were part of the recommendations from the Inquiry Committee into the 2021 explosion at Stars Engrg.

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