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The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced today (August 5) several new measures to detect cases of foreign domestic worker abuse during their six-monthly medical examinations.

MOM said that they will start recording the body mass index (BMI) of foreign domestic workers, allowing doctors to compare against past records and pick up any instances of significant weight loss, which can be a sign of abuse.

Workers will also be checked for signs of suspicious and unexplained injuries.

"This is complemented by MOM’s and MOH’s guidelines to doctors on what to look out for, and the follow-up actions to take if worrying signs are detected," said the manpower ministry.

The six-monthly examination will have to be conducted at clinics and they will have to be done without employers or representatives being present. This, said MOM, is to provide a safe environment for foreign domestic workers to speak up if they need help.

Taking effect from August 29

Home-based six-monthly medical examinations will also be disallowed from August 29.

This slate of initiatives will take effect from August 29.

MOM said that these measures came about following consultations with the Ministry of Health (MOH), medical practitioners from the College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS) and the Singapore Medical Association (SMA), as well as employers and employment agencies.

The six-monthly medical examination tests foreign domestic workers for pregnancy, syphilis, HIV (every two years) and tuberculosis (end of second year of employment).

Employers can visit the MOM website for more information on the six-monthly medical examinations.

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Top image by Andrew Koay