More Maids Risk Their Lives to Clean Windows Over the Past 5 Yrs; 60 Employers & Families were Investigated


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There are many things that are worth risking your life for.

Climbing four storeys, freestyle, to save a kid from falling to his death, for instance.

Or hurling yourself out of a moving aeroplane on an exhilarating skydiving trip.

But wiping windows for your employer without any safety gear on is definitely not one of them.

Heck, even professional window cleaners at least use abseiling equipment to do their job – you know, the sort that mountain climbers use.

Risking their lives to appease their employers

Employees brown-nosing their employers isn’t new, but the domestic maids in Singapore are literally risking their lives to appease their employers.

For some, that risk turned into a tragic reality.

In fact, just March 29 this year, an Indonesian maid fell multiple floors to her death while trying to clean her employer’s kitchen windows in a HDB (Block 464) on Upper Serangoon Road, near Hougang MRT.

The maid was found severely injured and unconscious by first responders.

She was sent to Sengkang General Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force where she later died of her injuries.

She was just 26 years old. She leaves behind two children.

Authorities are currently investigating the case.

The Centre for Domestic Employees has also contacted the family of the deceased as well as the employer to provide assistance.

A person’s safety should always come first

According to a spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower, he said that the ministry is looking into the maids’ work safety issue along with the employers’ apparent disregard for it.

“We will educate both employers and maids regarding work safety, and have also stipulated safety rules that must be followed when cleaning windows in high-rise buildings.”

Based on a report by the Straits Times, from 2016 to 2020, the Ministry of Manpower has taken action against 60 employers and their immediate family members due to disregarding their domestic maids’ safety when it comes to cleaning windows.


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The action taken ranges from warnings, fines or even court prosecutions, depending on the severity of the cases individually.

According to statistics provided by the Ministry of Manpower, the number of fatal falls has dropped since 2012, from a whopping 10 to 1 in 2014, but of course, 1 is already too high a cost for something as mundane as window cleaning.

Featured Image: Facebook (Eelit Agency Pte. Ltd.)