'Is this even allowed?' 2 women seen standing on 2nd-floor ledge of Seletar house sparks concern

[UPDATE: Oct 31, 12pm]

In response to AsiaOne's queries, a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesperson said that the ministry is "aware of the incident involving two migrant domestic workers who were observed to be working in an unsafe manner".

"An inspection was conducted at the said residence on the same day and a warning has been issued to the parties involved. MOM takes a serious view on safe working conditions for our migrant domestic workers," the spokesperson added.

The sight of two women standing on a second-floor ledge of a multi-storey property to fasten some decorations has sparked online concerns about their safety.

In two photos shared to Reddit on Tuesday (Oct 24) afternoon, the women can be seen standing along the roof ledge of a house, with one of them holding up a string of lights. 

"Saw this today, is this even allowed?" the Redditor questioned. "Looks pretty dangerous to me."

According to the post, the ledge has no railings and the women, who were referred to as domestic helpers in that post, were not wearing harnesses.

While the location is not stated in the post, the house is believed to be a landed property in Seletar.

Netizens expressed their alarm over the dangerous sight, urging the Redditor to report the incident to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

"That is definitely in breach of some Workplace Safety and Health act. Working at height requires the worker to wear a harness that's secured to a point at the very least," wrote one netizen.

"Are the employers supposed to be endangering their maid's life like this? Answer is a flat no," said another.

However, some suggested that the women were not at risk, with one commenting: "Doesn’t look very dangerous to me."

"Not that I condone it in the end, but far too many of you are assuming that they were forced into this, and didn't just do this on their own volition; after all, complacency is the number one cause of work place injury," added another user. 

The Redditor, who declined to be named, told AsiaOne that he had spotted the women at around 5pm on Tuesday (Oct 24).

He shared that as of Wednesday afternoon, he has not yet made a report to MOM but is considering to do so "when free".

According to MOM, members of the public are urged to report observations of unsafe workplace practices such as worker/s working unsafely via reporting platform SnapSAFE.

The report can be submitted to MOM via SnapSAFE by providing the following information:

• Photos of the unsafe practice or situation
• Description of what you spotted
• Location where you spotted it
• Name of company involved (if available)
• Date and time when you spotted it

A MOM spokesperson told The Straits Times in a report last month that employers who are found guilty of asking migrant domestic workers to perform tasks that pose a risk to their safety can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both.

Migrant domestic workers can report any employment difficulties or issues to MOM on 1800-339-5505.

They can also call the 24-hour helplines operated by CDE on 1800-2255-233 and the Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training on 1800-339-4357.

AsiaOne has reached out to MOM for more information.

ALSO READ: 'So dangerous': Domestic helper seen cleaning roof on multi-storey property sparks alarm

lim.kewei@asiaone.com