Security, Regulations, and PTW of Construction in Singapore

Is Workplace Safety and Health Act important??

To maintain construction security, the presence of the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act is necessary. Among the acts, regulations demand construction risk management.

The Singaporean Permit-to-Work (PTW) is a necessary qualification for construction. Construction sites must acquire it by following Singapore's construction safety rules before working on a construction project. The PTW ensures that high-risk work conditions, such as a construction site, addresses safety hazards properly. 

This keeps construction workers safe from potential danger. Other than this, officials like safety instructors make sure the construction team doesn't break the rules and regulations. Regular inspections are also present to check for permit validity from time to time.

The ePTW and Its Related Regulations

In recent years, the Singaporean construction industry has been shifting towards digitizing qualifications, management, and documentations. 

The PTW is no exception. The process of qualifying for the PTW can take a lot of effort if taken in traditional ways. To address this, the Singaporean government started promoting the electronic Permit-to-Work (ePTW) system. The ePTW serves as a placement of the PTW because of its ability to save time and effort while maintaining safety.

ePTW systems provide work site supervisors and workers a checklist for potential dangers and risks present in a work site. The checklist will assist in hazard identification and risk assessment. Construction sites will only receive the PTW after eliminating potential risks to workers' safety.

The ePTW aims to assist construction companies in acquiring qualifications without compromising the integrity of the permit.

On a side note, the Singaporean government demands contractors follow the Safety Disqualification (SDQ) Framework to different degrees depending on project value. Contractors failing to meet the requirements will be punished. On the other hand, contractors responsible for projects valuing over $50mil receive bonuses as well if able to maintain a good WSH performance. It’s a carrot-and-stick approach.

“Overview of Applicability of Enhancements”

Benefits of Going ePTW

Digitizing the process of applying for a PTW offers numerous benefits for companies and the industry as a whole. 

Reduces Printing Costs

Digitization means no more papers. Reducing the need for physical copies of documents brings not just a few benefits. Printing costs accumulate to great spending for companies. Construction companies, as Watt states in his blog, “manage an average of 5,000 pages every month,” and about half are “never even looked at.” 

Through digitization, printed documents are no longer necessary. Companies can allocate budget to causes with more urgency rather than printing papers.

Increased Sustainability

As businesses place more emphasis on sustainability in recent years, the construction industry has to make fundamental improvements. Document management is one aspect with considerable spaces of improvement. Reducing demand for physical copies of documents helps the construction industry move towards being more sustainable.

Organized Documents

For companies managing multiple projects, the amount of documents archived can reach an unmanageable number. Looking for a specific document from a project from years ago is even more painful. 

An ePTW system keeps records of documents in a cloud-based system. This ensures that human errors do not damage or lose documents by accident. As a result, past documents are now easier to access than ever.

Mitigation of Future Risks

Many ePTW software include an analytic feature for risk analysis. If an unfortunate accident has already happened, the ePTW can still assist in mitigating future risks. The analytic feature analyzes work site conditions from field data. The ePTW then looks for abnormalities in the data to identify potential issues.

A perfect example would be if a certain area has more accidents than others. Under this circumstance, an official can identify the work site as having unchecked risks. Enforcing a safety speculation on the area would likely identify those risks for future considerations. Automated risk data assessment is key to prevent future mistakes and minimize risks.

Flaws/Limitations of the ePTW

With all that being said, there is not a perfect system, not even the ePTW.

The first and perhaps the most challenging difficulty to overcome is the ePTW’s steep learning curve. 

Steep Learning Curve

To utilize the ePTW to its fullest potential, one must learn about every aspect and information it provides. Even for regular PTWs, safety supervisors have to go as far as receiving courses to understand safety standards. Furthermore, the user must be familiar with the applications of the information. If not, there won’t be much improvement in a company’s efficiency, even with ePTW. It is like having a database, but not an analytic to give insight to it.

Acquiring Qualifications

Attempting to qualify for a permit through the ePTW system is not easy as well.

It takes a tedious amount of steps and workflow to be able to qualify for a permit from the ePTW. From understanding requirements, to sending a request, to communicating with the officials, to tweaking the content. Every step requires professional knowledge and cooperation to complete the task efficiently.

Many different construction management software on the market can help with the process of acquiring a permit. Softwares like PlanGrid and Procore are able to provide assistance. However, each comes with their own disadvantages.

Applying for a permit is difficult to begin with. Softwares like AutoDesk overwhelms with their complex UI. It takes an immense amount of time to get used to the layout, losing its purpose as a construction management software.

On the other hand, Procore may seem like a favorable choice, but not for everyone. In the case of Procore, its costly and non-transparent pricing is a great barrier for Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Ultimately, the management software most suitable for working with ePTW needs to be easy-to-learn and affordable. GoBuid fits these criteria perfectly, being simple and powerful for a reasonable price.

Technical Knowledge

Many different software providers have different versions of the ePTW system for purchase. Some providers’ software may include more function and customization than others. Companies may be inclined to choose these providers for their extra functionality. 

However, this further raises the difficulty of managing the system. The ePTW, especially ones with extra functions, requires professional technical knowledge to configure, set up, and troubleshoot.

Prevents, But Doesn't Predict

Other than the harsh prerequisites of using an ePTW, one of its most fatal flaws lies within its own design. To predict an incident is extremely difficult, even for professional tradespeople. This in turn causes ePTW checklists only containing incidents site workers have experienced or heard of. Therefore, the ePTW can’t effectively prevent accidents or failures before the first time they occur.

This flaw results in the ePTW only providing instructions specific to common circumstances that have taken place before. Unforeseen risks still stand as undetected potential danger, even under the regulation of the ePTW.

Cost Efficiency of ePTW

The most obvious limitation of the ePTW system isn’t any of its other design, but its cost. The system can come from different software providers making a profit off licensing, which can cost a fortune.

For companies, ePTW’s price is not the entirety of its cost. Utilizing the ePTW requires construction companies to invest time and effort as well. Ensuring safety is a heavy responsibility, after all. 

Technicians and employees responsible for managing ePTW need to receive professional training if they haven’t. Some companies may find it difficult to postpone a project to invest manpower into learning ePTW.

Conclusion

The Singaporean government puts safety the first priority for potentially dangerous work conditions, especially construction sites. Among numerous permits, the PTW serves as an amazing tool for the Singaporean government to protect workers.

The ePTW is a powerful and renovative tool. However, it still has its own limitations that keeps it away from being the most viable option for everyone.

The ePTW still has spaces for improvement. In fact, some providers have been experimenting and attempting to integrate Artificial Intelligence with their own ePTW system. The ePTW certainly has infinite potential at improving the construction industry as a whole.