dormitories put at the disposal of foreign workers as provided for in the Occupational Safety and Health Act…
(No. B/173) Dr. Ms B. Thannoo (Second Member for Quartier Militaire & Moka) asked the Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations whether, in regard to dormitories put at the disposal of foreign workers as provided for in the Occupational Safety and Health Act, he 179 will state the surface area of the rooms and the number of people per room, indicating if they are equipped with messroom, bathroom and toilet facilities as per the provisions of the Act.
Reply: Lodging accommodation for foreign or migrant workers is governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Act 2005 and the Occupational Safety and Health (Employees’ Lodging Accommodation) Regulations 2011. With regard to the surface area of rooms, Regulation 12 of the Occupational Safety and Health (Employees’ Lodging Accommodation) Regulations 2011 provides for the minimum floor area of bedrooms depending on the number of employees. It stipulates that where an employee is provided with a single bed, the floor area should not be less than 4.6 square metres; and where any 2 employees are provided with bunk beds, the floor area should not be less than 5.2 square metres. The number of employees to be accommodated in a room, therefore, depends on the floor area of that room. At the moment, there is no provision in the law limiting the number of persons that can be accommodated in one bedroom. So, if you have a big hall, you can accommodate 50 or more workers. This is not satisfactory and raises issues of privacy and sanitation. My Ministry is currently working on amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health (Employees’ Lodging Accommodation) Regulations 2011. We are proposing to limit the number of lodgers to 12 for each room. Insofar as the messroom, bathroom and toilet facilities are concerned, the requirements have been prescribed in the Occupational Safety and Health (Employees’ Lodging Accommodation) Regulations 2011. Officers of my Ministry ensure that provisions of the law relating to messroom, bathroom and toilet facilities are complied with before granting lodging accommodation permits to dormitories put at the disposal of migrant workers. I wish to inform the House that my Ministry is working on proposed amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health legislations with a view to further reinforcing safety and health standards in lodging accommodations for the benefit of migrant workers, which include the following – (a) maximum number of lodgers in a bedroom; (b) appointment of cleaner for regular cleaning of the lodging accommodation; (c) fire safety standards in lodging accommodations;
180 (d) wardrobe/locker to be of reasonable size, and (e) health and sanitary conditions. LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL ACADEMY– PROJECT COST& OUTCOME