In his first public comments on last week’s collapse of a partially completed viaduct, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said yesterday that there were “lessons to be learnt”.

Asked by TODAY if there was a need to relook how government contracts were awarded, Mr Lim said the Government has a regulatory framework in place, which was enhanced recently.

But he noted that it will “keep refining (its) system”.

Mr Lim was referring to stiffer enforcement penalties introduced last May to address the problem of workplace deaths, including raising the minimum period for stop-work orders from two to three weeks.

“There are lessons to be learnt … and we should learn the right lessons and then make the necessary change and enhancement,” he said.

Citing ongoing investigations, he urged: “Let us finish our investigations first.” Just three days before the pre-dawn accident at Upper Changi Road East last Friday — one of the worst worksite calamities here in recent years — Or Kim Peow (OKP) Contractors, the main contractor for the project, was convicted and fined for separate workplace-safety lapses and a worker’s death in 2015. The Manpower Ministry had also blacklisted it between January and April this year.

Last Friday’s accident killed Chinese national Chen Yinchuan, 31, and injured 10.

As of yesterday, six workers remained hospitalised at Changi General Hospital, including two who were still in intensive care. KENNETH CHENG