Human Resources Minister M Kulasegaran said the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 would be given more teeth by imposing the heavier fine to deter worksite incidents from recurring.

He said currently, only the main contractors were prosecuted in worksite incidents at construction sites.

However, with the amendments, the government will be able to prosecute the developer, designers/engineers and contractors as well.

“The penalties alone will deter negligence on the part of all those involved, not just the main contractors,” Kulasegaran said after visiting the Bukit Kukus landslide site today.

He said to better monitor work sites in the future, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) would soon be equipped with drones with cameras to carry out surveillance of areas that were difficult to access and treacherous.

“We can observe more if we have drones. Imagine, we have 1,600 people in the ministry and DOSH has no drones at all.

“We are extremely concerned over the lapses and lack of equipment for us to monitor work sites. We will start acquiring drones with cameras so as to improve our surveillance and enforcement,” he said.

Kulasegaran said DOSH would conduct a thorough probe into the Bukit Kukus incident where nine foreign workers were killed and four others injured.

He said presently, forensic engineers from DOSH were on site to determine the cause of the landslide.

“If it is found that there was wilful non-compliance or negligence by the contractors, action will be taken against them.

“My heart is filled with sadness for all the families of victims involved in the incident. Human lives are human lives no matter where they come from, there are no exceptions.”