Mass Fire Evacuation Drill 2025

The National Fire and Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC) has designated September 2025 as the month for Mass Fire Evacuation Drill (MFED) for commercial and industrial premises. The  objective of of this initiative is to enhance emergency evacuation awareness of occupants in both the commercial and industrial premises as well as the public in general as well as strengthening the skills and knowledge of the emergency response teams.

All commercial and industrial premises are invited to participate in this event by conducting a fire evacuation drill during September 2025. This drill will fulfil one of the annual evacuation drill requirements mandated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. 

Upon completion, participating premises will receive a Certificate of Participation from the NFEC after September 2025. To participate in MFED 2025, please complete by scanning the QR Code below or by using the link as shown below:

FormSG link: https://go.gov.sg/nfecfireevacdrill

For any clarification, email to: secretariat.nfec@gmail.com

*Please note that representatives from NFEC and SCDF will not be observing the MFED at your premises on the date of the drill.

Phasing Out Fire Fighting Foam

Are you aware that effective from 1 Jan 2026, Singapore will be phasing out the import and use of firefighting foams containing PFOA and PFOS, including their salts and related compounds. Companies are allowed to continue using their fire-fighting foams after 1 Jan 2026 if the concentrations of the trace contaminants within the foams are below the respective threshold limits as shown.

(a) PFOA, its salts and related compounds: 25 ppb

(b) PFOS, its salts and related compounds: 10,000 ppb

(c) PFHxS, its salts and related compounds: 100 ppb

Companies storing or using fire-fighting foams containing PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, their salts and related compounds at or above their respective threshold concentrations are required to engage NEA licensed Toxic Industrial Waste Collectors (TIWCs) that are capable of collecting and disposing of such fire-fighting foams

Here is the list of NEA approved licensed toxic waste collector. 

What should l do if my company is using fire fighting foams containing PFOA and PFOS including its salts and related compounds

1)Verify that the fire fighting foam PFOA and PFOS by sending sample of your current fire fighting foam concentrate to accredited laboratory ( Eg SGS ) for analysis  with the following test parameters and specifications

(a) PFOA, its salts and related compounds: 25 ppb

(b) PFOS, its salts and related compounds: 10,000 ppb

(c) PFHxS, its salts and related compounds: 100 ppb

If your results are below NEA threshold limits, you can continue to use the foam concentrate .But you need to check with the foam concentrate supplier whether the foam concentrate will degrade to PFOA and PFOS over time. And if it does, you need to seek for alternative fluorine free foam by engaging your current fire protection equipment service provider who serviced and maintained your fire protection system.

Upon selection of the suitable foam concentrate, the fire protection service provider will need to engage their Professional Engineer (PE) to conduct the recommended foam hydraulic calculation using industry recognized software to determine the following :

1)Capacity of the bladder tank - foam concentrate storage

2)Volume of foam concentrate required

3)Number of foam generator required.

When these information are made available then you can budget in for your organization foam transition.

Here is list of HS and Product Codes of the affected materials are listed in ANNEX A. With effect from 1 Jan 2026, traders are required to use the appropriate HS and Product Codes when declaring their import and export in TradeNet® permit applications. All such TradeNet® permit applications will be subject to Chemical Control and Management Department (CCMD)’s processing and approval.

For further enquiries, you may email them to Ms Nikki Lee at <Nikki_Lee@nea.gov.sg>

Safe Working on Fragile Surface

 Beware of fragile surfaces when working at height

What is fragile surface
Fragile surfaces may look like any stable, solid floor. However, they cannot hold a person’s weight and may result in a fall when stepped on unknowingly.

Examples of fragile surfaces include:

• Unreinforced fibre-cement sheets and liner panels
• •Rooflights and glass
• •Corroded metal sheets
• Wood wool and chipboards

It is essential to identify fragile surfaces and protect your employees working near them to prevent falls from height.

Be prepared. Read the Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights.

Take proper preventive measures such as having a fall prevention plan and permit-to-work system.

Alert potential hazards to your employees with warning signs.

Empower your employees with checklists on working at height or on roofs so that they know what to look out for.

Fragile surfaces are a serious work-at-height concern. Skylights, false flooring, ceiling panels, sheeted and tiled roofs are examples of fragile surfaces that may look like normal solid flooring to the untrained eye. However, they are not designed to support a person’s weight. A worker who steps on a fragile surface will face the risk of falling through it to the ground below.

The following are some control measures companies have put in place to protect workers from falling through a fragile surface. 

For more information:

WSH Legislation

WSH Act 2006

WSH (Risk Management) Regulations

WSH (Construction) Regulations 2007

WSH (Work at Heights) Regulations 2013

Singapore Standard

SS 528: Specification for Personal Fall-arrest Systems

   Part 1: Full-body harnesses

   Part 2: Lanyards and energy absorbers

   Part 3: Self-retracting lifelines

   Part 4: Vertical rails and vertical lifelines incorporating a sliding-type fall arrester

   Part 5: Connectors with self-closing and self-locking gates

   Part 6: System performance tests

SS 541: 2008 Restraint belts (Incorporating Amendment No. 1, April 2012)

SS 570: 2022 Personal protective equipment for protection against falls from a height

   Part 1: Single-point anchor devices

   Part 2: Flexible horizontal lifeline systems

SS 607: 2015 Specification for Design of Active Fall-protection Systems

Ministry of Manpower

WSH National Statistics Report 2023

Workplace Safety and Health Council

Code of Practice on WSH Risk Management

Code of Practice for Working Safely at Heights

WSH Guidelines on Working Safely on Roofs

WSH Guidelines on Anchorage, Lifelines and Temporary Edge Protection Systems

WSH Guidelines on Personal Protective Equipment for Work at Heights

Work at Heights Toolkit for Supervisors

Worker’s Safety Handbook for Work at Height

ABC Checklist for Working Safely at Heights

ABC Checklist for Working on Rooftops

6 Basic WSH Rules for Working on Roofs

6 Basic WSH Rules for Working at Heights

WSH Poster: Working on Fragile Roof Surfaces

WSH Pictogram: Workers have died falling through fragile surfaces.

WSH Insights: Prevent Falls from Open Sides

WSH Insights: Prevent Falls with Travel Restraints

Presentation Slides by Roofing Association of Singapore: Working on Fragile Surfaces

UK Health and Safety Executive

Fragile roofs: Safe Working Practices

Safe Use of Combustible Dust

Measures for safe use of combustible dust

What is combustible dust?

Combustible dust is defined as any finely divided combustible particulate solid that may present a flash fire or explosion hazard when suspended in the air. You may find the list of combustible dust in the Fourth Schedule of the WSH (General Provisions) Regulations.

Effective 1 January 2025, the list of hazardous substances in the Fifth Schedule of the WSH Act will be expanded to include combustible dust. Duties of manufacturers and suppliers will also be extended to include combustible dust.

Labelling for combustible dust

All packages and containers of combustible dust in workplaces are required to be labelled to include:

• An alert of combustible dust hazard. The statement "Warning: May form explosible dust-air mixture if dispersed" needs to be explicitly stated on the label.

Precautionary measures to be taken when handling combustible dust.

For organic combustible dust such as flour, sugar, or potato starch, labelling will only be required for packages of 25kg and above.

You may refer to examples of warning labels for containers of combustible dust.

Notification to MOM on use of combustible dust

Factories that handle, sort, pack, store, process, manufacture or use combustible dust specified in the Fourth Schedule of the WSH (General Provisions) Regulations at or above the prescribed threshold quantity will be required to notify MOM and the owner of the factory such as the building owner or landlord.

Occupiers are required to:

• Notify MOM
• At least one month before starting the use of any particular combustible dust in your factory at or above the threshold quantity
• At the soonest possible before increasing the quantity of any particular combustible dust in your factory to or above the threshold quantity, if that combustible dust is currently in use
• Not later than one month after stopping the use of all combustible dust at your factory
• Notify the owner of the factory
• Before starting the use of any particular combustible dust in your factory at or above the threshold quantity
• After stopping the use of all combustible dust at your factory

This allows MOM to have oversight on factories with a combustible dust risk and for landlords to take proactive steps to avoid incompatible work among tenants.

You may refer to WSH (General Provisions) Regulations on existing control measures to prevent an explosion in the workplace arising from explosive or flammable dust.