PART 1 | Citation and commencement |
| 1. These Regulations are the Workplace Safety and Health (COVID-19 Safe Workplace) Regulations 2021 and come into operation on 1 January 2022. |
2.—(1) These Regulations do not apply to or in relation to any place of residence of any of the following:| (a) | a self‑employed person, an employer or a principal when and at which he or she is carrying on his or her trade, business, profession or undertaking; | | (b) | an employee of an employer when and at which the employee performs work in connection with his or her employer’s trade, business, profession or undertaking; | | (c) | a worker of a principal when and at which the worker performs work in connection with his or her principal’s trade, business, profession or undertaking. |
(2) These Regulations (except Part 3) do not apply to or in relation to any of the following whose work premises are defined premises:| (a) | any employer, and any employee of an employer; | | (b) | any principal, and any worker of a principal; | | (c) | any self‑employed person. |
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(3) For the purposes of paragraph (2), defined premises are any of the following:| (a) | a hospital or clinic, or other healthcare institution or facility for the reception, lodging, treatment or care of individuals requiring medical treatment; | | (b) | an early childhood development centre specified in a licence granted under the Early Childhood Development Centres Act 2017 to operate the early childhood development centre; | | (c) | a school in receipt of grant‑in‑aid under the Education (Grant‑in‑Aid) Regulations (Rg 3); | | (d) | a school specified in paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the Compulsory Education (Exemption) Order (O 1); | | (e) | a school specified in Part II of the Schedule to the Education Endowment and Savings Schemes (Edusave Pupils Fund) Regulations (Rg 1); | | (f) | any of the following universities:| (i) | National University of Singapore; | | (ii) | Nanyang Technological University; | | (iii) | Singapore Institute of Technology; | | (iv) | Singapore Management University; | | (v) | Singapore University of Social Sciences; | | (vi) | Singapore University of Technology and Design. |
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(4) To avoid doubt, these Regulations do not apply to prevent or restrict —| (a) | the Government or any public body doing or omitting to do anything in the performance of any function, the exercise of any power or the discharge of any duty of the Government or public body (as the case may be) under law; or | | (b) | any individual acting under the authority or direction of the Government or any public body in the performance of any function, the exercise of any power or the discharge of any duty of the Government or public body (as the case may be) under law. |
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3.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires —“approved test” means any of the following tests carried out in Singapore in relation to an individual, the purpose of which is to test for the presence of SARS‑CoV‑2 in that individual:| (a) | a PCR test; | | (b) | an antigen rapid test; |
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| “approved vaccine” means a vaccine described in the First Schedule to the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021 (G.N. No. S 273/2021); |
| “clean” includes disinfecting in an appropriate manner; |
| “cleared status (general)” means a cleared status (general) that is current within the meaning of the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021; |
“Control Order” means any of the following subsidiary legislation:| (a) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020 (G.N. No. S 254/2020); | | (b) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Foreign Employee Dormitories — Control Order) Regulations 2020 (G.N. No. S 781/2020); | | (c) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Performances and Other Activities — Control Order) Regulations 2020 (G.N. No. S 927/2020); | | (d) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Sporting Events and Activities — Control Order) Regulations 2021 (G.N. No. S 277/2021); | | (e) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Business Events — Control Order) Regulations 2021 (G.N. No. S 278/2021); | | (f) | the COVID‑19 (Temporary Measures) (Religious Gatherings — Control Order) Regulations 2021 (G.N. No. S 509/2021); |
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| “COVID‑19” means the infectious disease known as Coronavirus Disease 2019; |
| “movement control measure” has the meaning given by paragraph (2); |
| “occupy”, in relation to any premises or part of any premises, includes the use, temporarily or otherwise, of the premises or part thereof for the purpose of any trade, business, profession or undertaking of the occupier; |
| “PCR test” means a polymerase chain reaction test carried out in Singapore in relation to an individual, the purpose of which is to test for the presence of SARS‑CoV‑2 in that individual; |
“place of residence”, for an individual, means —| (a) | a house or flat in Singapore that is the individual’s home in Singapore; or | | (b) | any other premises in Singapore that the individual is ordinarily resident at when in Singapore, such as a room, or a partitioned‑off space for sleeping, that is —| (i) | in a hotel, hostel, guesthouse, serviced apartment or student dormitory in Singapore; or | | (ii) | in any other premises in Singapore that provides sleeping facilities and residential accommodation (whether or not other accommodation is also provided), |
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| but not any of the following premises: |
| (c) | any hospital or nursing home; | | (d) | any boarding premises that is the subject of a licence under the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act 2015 or is providing accommodation to 7 or more foreign employees, including any place converted (temporarily or otherwise) for use as accommodation for 7 or more foreign employees; | | (e) | any prison where an individual is incarcerated to serve a sentence of imprisonment, any other place where a prisoner may serve his or her sentence of imprisonment outside of a prison; | | (f) | any premises for the purposes of detaining individuals serving orders of detention under any written law, whether or not for their rehabilitation or safety; |
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| “recovered individual” has the meaning given by the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021; |
| “unvaccinated against COVID‑19 infection” has the meaning given by regulation 4(3); |
| “vaccinated against COVID‑19 infection”, in relation to an individual, means the individual has received all the doses of an approved vaccine, or a combination of approved vaccines, administered by a recognised vaccination provider in the way described in the First Schedule to the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021; and “recognised vaccination provider” has the meaning given by those Regulations; |
| “vaccination information” has the meaning given by regulation 4(5); |
“work premises”, in relation to an employer, a principal or a self‑employed person, means any premises —| (a) | that the employer, principal or self‑employed person (as the case may be) occupies for the purpose of any trade, business, profession or undertaking of the employer, principal or self‑employed person, as the case may be; or | | (b) | in which an employee of the employer or a worker of the principal, or the self‑employed person (as the case may be) ordinarily performs or carries out work for the purpose of any trade, business, profession or undertaking of the employer, principal or self‑employed person, |
| and includes any canteen or recreational facility which is comprised in or adjacent to the work premises and is provided for use solely by employees or workers or both, and no others; |
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“worker”, in relation to a principal, means an individual who is —| (a) | a contractor engaged by the principal otherwise than under a contract of service; | | (b) | a direct or an indirect subcontractor engaged by a contractor mentioned in paragraph (a); or | | (c) | an employee employed by such a contractor or subcontractor in paragraph (a) or (b), |
| when working under the direction of the principal as to the manner in which the work is carried out. |
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(2) In these Regulations, an individual is regarded as subject to a movement control measure if the individual is subject to a requirement that the individual must not leave any place because of —| (a) | an order made under regulation 3(1) of the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 — Stay Orders) Regulations 2020 (G.N. No. S 182/2020); | | (b) | regulation 3(2) of the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 — Stay Orders) Regulations 2020; or | | (c) | an order under section 15 or 17 of the Infectious Diseases Act 1976 relating to COVID‑19. |
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(3) In these Regulations, an individual may be regarded as a member of the same household of another individual if the firstmentioned individual is any of the following ordinarily living in the same place of residence as the other individual:| (a) | a spouse of that other individual; | | (b) | a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling of that other individual; | | (c) | an individual with whom that other individual has an agreement or arrangement, whether oral or in writing and whether express or implied, to live in the same place of residence. |
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| (4) For the purposes of paragraph (3), “parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling”, in relation to an individual, includes a step‑parent, stepgrandparent, stepchild, stepgrandchild or stepsibling or a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild or sibling, by adoption, of that individual, as the case may be. |
| (5) In reckoning a period for the purposes of these Regulations, days must be counted consecutively, whether or not a public holiday. |
| (6) For the purposes of these Regulations, an individual is treated as having a 24‑hour clearance only if he or she is and to the extent certified under regulation 5 as having a 24‑hour clearance and that 24‑hour clearance is current. |
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| Vaccination status and vaccination information |
4.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations, an individual’s vaccination status is one of the following:| (a) | vaccinated against COVID‑19 infection; | | (b) | partially vaccinated against COVID‑19 infection; | | (c) | unvaccinated against COVID‑19 infection; | | (d) | excepted person. |
(2) An individual is partially vaccinated against COVID‑19 infection if the individual —| (a) | has received at least one dose of an approved vaccine; and | | (b) | is neither an excepted person nor vaccinated against COVID‑19 infection. |
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| (3) An individual is unvaccinated against COVID‑19 infection if the person has not received any dose of an approved vaccine and is not an excepted person. |
| (4) An individual is an excepted person if the individual has a cleared status (special) within the meaning given by the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021. |
| (5) For the purposes of these Regulations, vaccination information is information about an individual’s vaccination status. |
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5.—(1) Where an individual (who is not a recovered individual) —| (a) | has registered, in person, with an approved test provider to undergo any approved test or tests; | | (b) | undergoes the approved test or tests; and | | (c) | has met one of the following conditions:| (i) | where the individual undergoes an approved test or tests that do not involve any PCR test — the individual’s test result is treated as negative for SARS‑CoV‑2 after undergoing a relevant sampling activity for the antigen rapid test, or the last antigen rapid test if there are more than one; | | (ii) | where the individual undergoes an approved test or tests that involve one or more PCR tests — the individual’s test result is treated as negative for SARS‑CoV‑2 after undergoing a relevant sampling activity for the PCR test, or the last PCR test if there are more than one, |
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| the individual may be certified by the Director of Medical Services, a Deputy Director of Medical Services or a recognised medical practitioner to have a 24-hour clearance as follows: |
| (d) | starting the time the individual registered, in person, with the approved test provider to undergo the approved test the test result of which shows negative for SARS‑CoV‑2; | | (e) | ending 24 hours after the time in sub‑paragraph (d). |
(2) Despite certification under paragraph (1), an individual is not regarded as having a 24‑hour clearance that is current as follows:| (a) | any time after the end of the 24 hours certified for the individual under paragraph (1); | | (b) | any time after the individual becomes subject to a movement control measure within the 24‑hour period certified for the individual under paragraph (1); | | (c) | any time after the individual undergoes any approved test that is an antigen rapid test (or the first of any such approved tests if there is more than one) within the 24‑hour period certified for the individual under paragraph (1) and the test result of the antigen rapid test shows the presence of SARS‑CoV‑2 in that individual; | | (d) | any time during any suspended status interval where any part of that interval lies within the 24‑hour period certified for the individual under paragraph (1); | | (e) | any time after the cancellation under paragraph (4) of the certification. |
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(3) A suspended status interval for an individual means the period —| (a) | starting the time (not date) the individual first tests positive for SARS‑CoV‑2 upon undergoing a PCR test; and | | (b) | ending on (and including) the day those test results are determined to be an atypical finding for SARS‑CoV‑2. |
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(4) The Director of Medical Services or a Deputy Director of Medical Services may cancel any certification under paragraph (1) stating that an individual has a 24‑hour clearance if —| (a) | before the end of the 24‑hour period certified for the individual under paragraph (1) —| (i) | the individual undergoes an approved test that is a PCR test; and | | (ii) | the individual’s test result shows the presence of SARS‑CoV‑2 in that individual and that is not an atypical finding for SARS‑CoV‑2; or |
| | (b) | the Director of Medical Services or Deputy Director of Medical Services is satisfied that it is the interest of the health and safety of the individual to do so. |
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(5) In this regulation —| “approved test provider”, “atypical finding for SARS‑CoV‑2” and “recognised medical practitioner” have the meanings given by the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021; |
| “relevant sampling activity” means removing a respiratory specimen from the lining of the oral or nasal passages of an individual where that is being done for the purpose of subjecting the respiratory specimen to an approved test for the purpose of testing the presence of SARS‑CoV‑2 in that individual; |
| “test result is treated as negative for SARS‑CoV‑2” has the meaning given by regulation 8 of the Infectious Diseases (COVID‑19 Access Restrictions and Clearance) Regulations 2021. |
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