Haze guidelines and advisory for work

Employers should refer to the 24-hr PSI forecast on the NEA website, as well as the updated health advisories on the NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg) or the Haze website (www.haze.gov.sg).

The impact on one’s health is dependent on the quality of air, duration of exposure and one’s health conditions. Employers can take reference from MOM’s guideline to employers, available on MOM’s website (www.mom.gov.sg/haze) and the Haze website (www.haze.gov.sg) for general measures to minimise or mitigate the effects of haze on their employees. Additional measures specific to the work requirements and health conditions of the employees would have to be instituted based on the risk as assessed by the employers.

Risk assessments and mitigating measures

All employers should carry out proper risk assessments of their various work activities and implement appropriate measures, to ensure that the risks identified are minimised or mitigated.

Depending on the air quality, employers should first find ways to reduce or avoid prolonged or strenuous outdoor work. Risk assessments, taking into account the impact of the haze, individual employee’s health, work demands and fatigue, etc, must be conducted and risk mitigating measures adopted to reduce the risks to workers to as low as reasonably practicable.

Examples of such risk mitigating measures include:

1. Use mechanical aids (e.g. trolleys, hoists) to transport or carry heavy objects instead of manual lifting or carrying.
2. Adjust work assignments or rotate jobs to shorten the time spent in outdoor work.
3. Schedule sufficient indoor rest breaks for workers performing outdoor work.
4. Ensure adequate hydration for workers.
5. Monitor employees’ health by encouraging feedback on any symptoms that may occur.
6. Defer non-essential work

Wearing of masks and respirators

If prolonged or strenuous outdoor work is unavoidable such as due to extenuating circumstances, employer is strongly urged to provide masks for such workers. Employees who need to wear masks or respirators should be fit-tested to ensure good fit.

Employers should also ensure sufficient stock of masks or respirators for these employees, and to conduct proper training and supervision to ensure correct usage of the masks or respirators.

Masks should be changed when soiled or physically damaged or when the wearer finds it hard to breathe.

Vulnerable employees, such as the elderly, pregnant employees as well as those with chronic heart or lung disease, should consult their treating doctors on the usage of masks.

Reference should be made to the Singapore Standard SS 548:2022: Code of Practice for Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices.

Flexible work arrangements

During haze episodes, employers are strongly encouraged to adopt a flexible and enlightened approach in allowing employees to use flexible work arrangements. This is especially so for vulnerable employees, such as the elderly, pregnant and those with chronic heart or lung illnesses. Such flexible work arrangements may include telecommuting and staggered work hours.

If their employees feel unwell and wish to rest at home, employers are encouraged to be flexible in allowing them to take their leave. For employees who have used up their paid annual leave or sick leave entitlements, employers could consider granting them advance leave or other leave arrangements. In such situations, the employees’ wages should not be deducted.

MOM’s guidelines provide general measures that employers can take to mitigate the risks their employees face in a haze situation, and is not meant to be prescriptive.

Employers should carry out a proper risk assessment of their various work activities and implement appropriate measures (such as identifying appropriate rest periods) so as to ensure that the risks identified are minimised or mitigated.

Workers should first raise their concerns to their supervisor, HR department and union representatives. If no action has been taken, workers can call MOM at 64385122 for general advice.

If there are significant safety concerns on outdoor work during the haze situation, workers can submit an online feedback.

Workers should first raise their concerns to their supervisor, HR department and union representatives. If no action has been taken, workers can call the MOM Contact Centre at 6438 5122 for general advice.

If there are significant safety concerns on outdoor work during the haze situation, workers can submit an online feedback.

Under the Workplace Safety & Health Act (WSH Act), employers have a duty to protect their employees’ safety and health at work.

Employers should adequately mitigate the risks posed by the haze to the safety and health of workers, by taking reference from the guidelines. Failure to do so, may result in enforcement actions by the MOM under the WSH Act, which may include issuance of stop work orders and composition fines.

Under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), an employee who sustains an illness or injury arising out of and in the course of employment is eligible to claim work injury compensation from his employer.

Employers should notify MOM through WSH Incident Reporting if any employee has sustained an illness or injury due to working outdoors during the haze. For cases where the employee is able to recover over time and resume work without permanent ill effects, employers should pay any medical leave wages and medical expenses due directly to the employee.

The threshold for usage of N95 masks or equivalent for protection of outdoor workers is suggested at lower PSI than for the general public as work commitments may require prolonged outdoor exposure or strenuous work on a regular basis. Employers should refer to the MOM guidelines for more details on situations where suitable masks or respirators have to be used. In general, work arrangements to reduce outdoor work such as frequent breaks and job rotation should be made to reduce prolonged or strenuous outdoor work. Use of mechanical aids such as trolleys, lifts or hoists instead of manual lifting and carrying could also reduce the strenuous nature of these activities.

Where outdoor work is unavoidable, employers should provide suitable masks (based on the MOM’s guidelines) to protect workers.

If N95 masks are used, employers and employees should note that these increase the effort of breathing. For some employees, this may cause discomfort in breathing, tiredness or headache. This may be due to their masks causing increased resistance to breathing, and a reduction in the volume of air breathed. Employers should consider instituting regular breaks and encourage hydration of employees using masks. Risk assessment, taking into account the usage of the respirators, individual employee’s heath conditions and nature of outdoor work must be conducted.

Masks are available at major supermarkets, such as NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, and at pharmacies such as Guardian, Watsons and Unity. The national stockpile of N95 masks may be released to the major pharmacies and supermarkets if more are needed.

As a good practice, employers should ensure sufficient stock of suitable masks. A general guide is to maintain a stockpile of one-week supply of N95 masks as part of companies’ haze-related Business Continuity Plans.

Employers are strongly encouraged to adopt a flexible and enlightened approach in granting time-off or leave (e.g. sick leave, annual leave, childcare leave and unpaid infant care leave) or allowing employees to use flexible work arrangements to minimise work disruptions:

• Allow their employees to go on leave to rest at home because they are unwell (especially older employees, pregnant employees or those with respiratory problems) or to take care of family members.
• Allow employees who need to take leave and have used up their leave entitlements to utilise advance leave or other leave arrangements.
• Where practicable, allow employees to use flexible work arrangements to work from home or work shorter hours.

In situations where the employer has decided in view of their risk assessment to temporarily suspend operations, the employer should bear the costs of doing so and should not deduct from the wages or leave entitlements of the affected employees.

Employers should discuss with their employees, as well as union representatives (if any), and mutually agree on the appropriate leave and flexible work arrangements (e.g. paid annual leave, etc) to be adopted.

Employees should first approach their employers to resolve the matter amicably. If there are disagreements, the issue should be raised to the management via union representatives or your HR. If the dispute cannot be resolved amicably, you can make an online enquiry or call the MOM Contact Centre at 6438 5122, for further assistance.

All employers should carry out proper risk assessments of their various work activities and implement appropriate measures, to ensure that the risks identified are minimised or mitigated.

When 24-hour PSI exceeds 300, minimising outdoor work and deferring non-essential work and other haze mitigation measures should remain the primary consideration. However, when outdoor work is unavoidable, suitable masks or respirators should be provided.

When 24-hour PSI exceeds 400, non-essential work should be deferred. If outdoor work is unavoidable, an N95 mask which has a protection factor (PF) of 10 may not provide these workers with sufficient respiratory protection during prolonged outdoor work. As such, respirators with higher PF, such as full face respirators with PF of 50, should be considered in such situations.

Companies should identify and estimate the number of workers who are required to perform prolonged work when PSI exceeds 400, as these workers would require fit-testing and training on the use of the respirators. Companies would need to ensure that sufficient numbers of the respirators are available.

In deriving this estimate, we had considered the particulate level and the duration which workers may be exposed to haze at work, as well as practical factors. When prolonged outdoor work is carried out at PSI levels above 400, an N95 mask with a protection factor of 10 may not provide the workers with sufficient respiratory protection. A respirator with higher PF will be able to provide sufficient respiratory protection and reduce exposure.

“Prolonged” work refers to work with continuous exposure for several hours, based on the Ministry of Health Advisory for General Public.

While there is no explicit definition for the term “unavoidable”, this will include critical and essential work such as security, utilities and maintenance, logistics and supply, and waste management.

Companies should identify and estimate the number of workers who are required to perform these activities for prolonged periods when PSI exceeds 400.

When 24-hour PSI exceeds 400, respirators with higher PF such as full-face respirators are suitable. Powered air purifying respirators (PAPR) with full-face can also be used for greater comfort. Reference should be made to the Singapore Standard SS 548:2022: Code of Practice for Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices.

Workers who need to wear respirators at work are required to undergo a medical assessment for fitness to use respirators. Workers with certain medical conditions such as lung problems may not be medically fit to use respirators. Please refer to the Singapore Standard SS 548:2022: Code of Practice for Selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices for additional details.

When other Personal Protective Equipments (PPE) such as safety helmets, eye protectors, hearing protectors or protective clothing are used, care should be taken to ensure that the protection offered by the PPE is not compromised. Respirator selection should include an assessment of the effect of its use on other PPEs. Please see the Singapore Standard SS 548:2022 Code of Practice for selection, use and maintenance of respiratory protective devices for more information.

The suppliers for full-face respirators include the following companies: 3M, Draeger, Honeywell, MSA, Scott Safety and Sundstrom. The list of companies is not exhaustive. Enquiries regarding costs can be made directly with the suppliers.