Is tool tethering mandatory in Singapore?
No regulation we have found requires tool tethering in those words. It is recommended practice: the WSH Council's Guidelines on Safeguarding Against Falling Objects recommend tethers and tie-downs such as lanyards, straps and slings, and tool bags or pouches. The legal duty is general: employers and principals must take reasonably practicable measures to protect workers and the public, and on worksites the occupier must provide adequate overhead protection. Tethering is often the cheapest way to meet those duties.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in Preventing Falling Objects in Singapore: Worksites, Façades and Rope Access. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
In Singapore, preventing falling objects is a legal duty shared by the occupier, the employer and the principal. On worksites the occupier must provide adequate overhead protection, scaffolds need toe-boards of at least 90 mm and overlay nets, and debris must go down chutes, not over the edge. Breaches carry fines of up to S$50,000 and two years' jail. Owners must also keep exterior features securely fixed.
More questions on this topic
- Do the Work at Heights Regulations require toe-boards?
- How big should an exclusion zone below work at height be?
- Who is liable if something falls from a building onto a passer-by?
- What are the latest MOM statistics on struck-by-falling-objects injuries?
- Does an MCST have duties when contractors work on the façade?
- What rope access rules help prevent falling objects?
- Must a falling-object incident be reported?