Helper without safety harness seen cleaning exterior of window of high-rise flat

This domestic helper was spotted risking life and limb while perched on the exterior ledge of a high-rise apartment cleaning the windows, several storeys  above the ground.

“For all employers, please use your heart. Don’t let the maid do this kind of dangerous job,” urged a member of the Complaint Singapore Facebook page.

The Facebook user attached a video of the incident  on Tuesday (Mar 15), showing a helper in a yellow shirt cleaning  the outside panes of the windows of  a flat in Block 489B Tampines Street 45.

The helper used the ledge to support her weight and simply hung on for safety.

Netizens responded to the post and emphasized that having the windows cleaned in such a dangerous manner was not worth the helper’s life. As one of them put it:

“The cleanness of the window not worth a person’s life. The sky is not going to fall if the window is not clean.”

Another Facebook user tagged the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), urging the agency to take serious note of the matter.

“Drill into FDW trainings at agencies to not have them put their lives at risk, just because their employers told them to. That’s absurd and very wrong,” the netizen added.

Others noted that the law is too lenient on employers. “Fine any employers who asked their helpers to do dangerous stunts like this. Then only will it stop when their pocket hurts. I don’t think any helpers will risk their own lives to clean windows like that kind? The less they work, the better for them,” said a Facebook user.

According to a 2012 statement by MOM, all FDWs are banned from cleaning the exterior of windows unless “strict safety conditions” are implemented.

The employer or another adult representative must be present to supervise.

Furthermore, there should be window grilles installed and locked at all times during the cleaning process. These conditions apply to all homes except those at ground level or where the windows are positioned along common corridors.

Employers found in violation of these rules are liable to be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for six months./TISG

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