{"id":8375,"date":"2025-10-04T17:21:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/mom-investigating-death-of-maid-who-apparently-fell-while-cleaning-windows\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T17:21:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T17:21:56","slug":"mom-investigating-death-of-maid-who-apparently-fell-while-cleaning-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/mom-investigating-death-of-maid-who-apparently-fell-while-cleaning-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"MOM investigating death of maid who apparently fell while cleaning windows"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is investigating the death of a domestic worker who is believed to have fallen while cleaning windows.<\/p>\n

The woman was found lying motionless at the foot of a Toa Payoh HDB block on Sept 25 and was pronounced dead at the scene.<\/p>\n

Her employer told Chinese-language news outlet Shin Min Daily News that the domestic worker had likely fallen while cleaning windows, adding that the helper had begun employment only on Sept 20.<\/p>\n

In response to queries from The Straits Times, an MOM spokesperson said on Oct 3: “We are deeply concerned about such incidents and would like to remind all employers of the importance of ensuring the safety of their migrant domestic workers.”<\/p>\n

The ministry advised employers to guide domestic workers on safe practices when performing tasks such as window cleaning.<\/p>\n

“This includes checking that window grilles are properly installed and locked before any cleaning is carried out,” said the spokesperson.<\/p>\n

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All first-time employers and domestic workers are educated on essential safety measures during the Employers’ Orientation Programme and Settling-In Programme, said the ministry. These programmes include practical guidance on how to clean windows safely, it added.<\/p>\n

Executive director of the Centre for Domestic Employees Michael Lim, in a media response on Sept 30, urged employers and domestic workers to prioritise safety and to exercise caution when performing household tasks.<\/p>\n

However, domestic workers may face difficulty refusing work that is dangerous or illegal, said Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics.<\/p>\n

The charity’s director of casework and legal Jaya Anil Kumar said on Oct 1: “Many migrant domestic workers, particularly those who have newly commenced employment, find it difficult to say ‘no’ to their employers.<\/p>\n

“They fear being scolded, or worse, being terminated for not complying.”<\/p>\n

Ms Kumar also reiterated that work pass regulations explicitly forbid cleaning windows in a dangerous manner.<\/p>\n

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In June 2012, MOM announced that employers of foreign domestic workers are not allowed to let them clean the exterior of windows unless strict safety conditions are met.<\/p>\n

An employer or adult representative must be present to supervise the domestic worker. Window grilles must be installed and locked at all times during the cleaning.<\/p>\n

The rule came about following the deaths of five domestic workers between January and June in 2012. They had fallen while cleaning windows in an unsafe manner.<\/p>\n

According to MOM’s website, employers and domestic workers are required to sign a safety agreement before employment commences.<\/p>\n

In 2021, the authorities took about 60 people to task from 2016 to 2020 for failing to provide safe working conditions for their helpers while they were cleaning windows.<\/p>\n

These figures were made public in a response to queries from The Straits Times after a 26-year-old Indonesian helper died in hospital after being found at the bottom of a block of flats near Hougang MRT on March 29, 2021.<\/p>\n

She is believed to have been cleaning windows when she fell.<\/p>\n

For failing to ensure the safety of their domestic workers, employers can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both. They may also be barred from employing a domestic helper in the future.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Daniel Lai for The Straits Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

MOM investigating death of maid who apparently fell while cleaning windows<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is investigating the death of a domestic worker who is believed to have fallen while cleaning windows. The woman was found lying motionless at the foot of a Toa Payoh HDB block on Sept 25 and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her employer told Chinese-language news outlet Shin Min…<\/p>\n

Read More “MOM investigating death of maid who apparently fell while cleaning windows”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}