En-suite toilets, fewer occupants in room: Foreign worker dorms have to improve standards by 2030, says MOM

Migrant workers housed in existing dormitories can expect better living standards - including bigger living spaces and fewer occupants in each room - by year 2030.

Around 1,000 purpose-built and factory converted dorms will be transitioned to "improved interim standards" between 2027 to 2030, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 11).

This will strengthen public health resilience in migrant worker dorms and improve living conditions, they added.

Exempted dorms include those with leases expiring in 2033 or earlier, and smaller ones with six beds or fewer that are not covered by the Foreign Employee Dormitories Act. 

In Sept 2021, MOM, along with the Ministry of National Development (MND) and Ministry of Health (MOH), had previously announced improved standards for new dormitories.

But the ministry shared on Wednesday that imposing these new standards only upon the expiry of their existing leases will lead to dorms remaining vulnerable to the spread of diseases.

The transition to interim standards by 2030 will reduce the spread of infectious diseases in dorms, MOM said, adding that all dorms will have to comply with the new standards set in 2021 by 2040. 

"The scheme is part of our broader effort to transform the migrant worker ecosystem by fortifying housing standards, improving healthcare support and enhancing social well-being," Senior Minister of State for Manpower Koh Poh Koon said.

Maximum of 12 occupants a room

Under the interim standards, dorms are required to house a maximum of 12 occupants a room and a one-metre spacing between beds is recommended. 

The toilet and isolation facilities under the interim standards are similar to the new standards.

Toilets must be en-suite only, with one toilet, shower and hand wash basin per six residents. However, communal toilets will be allowed by MOM on a case-by-case basis for dormitories that have infrastructure constraints.

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Other improvements that were announced by MOM in 2021, such as Wi-Fi in all rooms and adequate number of fans, are excluded from the interim standards.

MOM said that the interim standards focus on critical infrastructural changes within dorms to improve public health resilience.

"Some other requirements, such as redesigning sewage to enable wastewater surveillance or further segregation of common facilities within dorms, will be difficult for existing buildings to comply with major and costly renovations," they said.

MOM added that they welcome voluntary early adoption of standards that exceed the interim standards only upon the expiry of existing leases would result in existing dormitories remain vulnerable to disease spread for a much longer period of time.

chingshijie@asiaone.com