More stringent safety measures for workers transported on lorries

These measures have been accepted by the Government and will be rolled out progressively in the next three years.

[B]Workgroup Recommendations[/B]

Findings from the Workgroup show that the current safety and enforcement measures have generally been effective in keeping the fatality and injury rates of workers transported at the back of lorries low.

Fatality / injury rates involving workers transported on the carriage deck of lorries were much lower compared to all road accidents*. However, the Workgroup recognises that as a significant number of workers (estimated to be more than 200,000 workers) are transported on lorries daily across industries, there is a need to enhance existing measures to further improve the safety of workers.

[B]Recommended Measures[/B]

The Workgroup has recommended various measures that would be phased in over 3 years. Measures that would be implemented are:

[B][U]From 1 September 2009[/B][/U]

[B]Lower maximum allowable height of a seated worker[/B]
To further lower the risk of a worker falling off from the back of a lorry, no part of the worker when he is in a sitting position shall be more than 1.1 metres from the carriage deck.

[B]Passenger seat(s) in the lorry's cabin must be filled up before workers can be carried at the rear carriage of lorries[/B]
All the passenger seat(s) in the lorries' cabin must be filled up before workers can be transported on the carriage deck.

Aside from the benefit of having more passengers seated in a safer environment, the front seat passenger(s) can also assist the driver by ensuring that workers carried on the carriage deck area, if any, are properly seated, and remind the driver to abide by the speed limit.

[B]Enforcement operations further stepped up[/B]
Enforcement activities have been intensified against lorry drivers who do not observe safety regulations since 2008. This will be further stepped up.

[B]Penalties for non-compliance enhanced[/B]
Penalties will be enhanced for drivers and owners who fail to comply with safety regulations, including carrying excess workers above the vehicle's Maximum Passenger Capacity (MPC).

[B]Hotline to report non-compliance with safety regulations[/B]
The public can help by calling the LTA Hotline (1800-CALL LTA) to report any instances of non-compliance spotted on the road, such as lorries carrying excess workers or in a dangerous / precarious manner.

[B]Expand outreach programmes[/B]
Ensuring safety is the joint responsibility of the Government, employers, drivers, workers and other road users. Government agencies such as LTA, MOM, Traffic Police and the various associations will continue in outreach programmes to educate employers and workers on their responsibilities and showcase welfare and safety best practices.

[B][U]From 1 January 2010[/B][/U]

Lorries registered from 1 January 2010 and used for carrying workers on the carriage deck must be fitted with higher protective side railings - up to a height of at least 700 mm (up from 550 mm) from the carriage deck, and at least 300 mm (up from 150 mm) from the top of the side-boards.

To effectively shelter workers from inclement weather, lorries will also need to be fitted with canopies if they are to carry passengers on the carriage deck.

[B]From 1 September 2012[/B]

Minimum deck space required per seated worker will be doubled to 8 square feet from the current 4 square feet from 1 September 2012. This will reduce the number of workers that can be transported on lorries as compared to what is stipulated today, and will lower the risk exposure in the event of an accident.

The lead time of three years will also allow businesses to phase in operational changes and make decisions on their existing assets.

[B][/U]Measures for existing lorries[/B][/U]

5. For existing lorries, owners will be given a lead time of three years (i.e. up to 31 August 2012) to install the higher protective side railings and canopies, if they are to continue to be used to transport workers.

[I]*Over the past several years, both the fatality and injury rates were about 6 times lower than the annual average fatality and injury rates of all road accidents over the same period.[/I]

Credits: JRC