NEA issues guidelines for hearse operators, requires contractors performing after-death services to be registered

• Hearse operators must ensure the deceased is covered from public view under the new guidelines
• From January, contractors performing services at NEA’s cremation, burial and columbarium facilities must first be registered
• The announcements are the latest in a series of new requirements after a string of blunders that had thrust the funeral industry into the spotlight

SINGAPORE — For the first time, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has issued guidelines for transporting dead people, requiring a hearse operator, for example, to keep the deceased covered from the public’s view while in the vehicle.

Also on Monday (Oct 19), NEA announced that all contractors performing services such as exhumations, niche plaque works and tombstone erecting at their facilities must be registered with the agency from January next year.

These facilities include the cemetery, crematoriums and columbariums at Chua Chu Kang, Mandai and Yishun.

The announcements are the latest in a series of new requirements aimed at improving the standards of the funeral services industry by the NEA, the lead agency for after-death facilities and services.

They follow a string of events last year that had thrust the funeral industry into the spotlight, including a body mix-up that led to the cremation of a wrong body and an incident where a body of a woman was allegedly left uncovered.

GUIDELINES FOR TRANSPORTING DECEASED

The new guidelines provide information for operators who transport the deceased so that they meet “high public health standards, accord dignity to the deceased and serve the needs of the bereaved families well”, NEA said in a statement.

Among other things, they require coffins to be securely fastened in the vehicle before moving off and that coffins not be stacked on top of each other or placed on the floor at any time.

Vehicles used to transfer the deceased must also be enclosed.

They also spell out in detail how the hearse should be disinfected and maintained as well as the roles and responsibilities of the drivers.

Mr Ang Zisheng, president of the Association of Funeral Directors Singapore (AFD) which jointly developed the guidelines, said they serve to formalise the best practices of the funeral services industry.

“It further strengthens what current operators already have in place in a more structured manner,” he said.

REGISTRATION FOR AFTER-DEATH SERVICE CONTRACTORS

Contractors were informed last Friday of the need to register before they can perform after-death services at government-managed facilities from next year, NEA said.

The registration is free and is valid for three years.

The agency said the move is “enhance the transparency of the industry and ensure the accountability of contractors”.

Relatives of the deceased who apply for permits to carry out work in facilities managed by the NEA may only engage contractors who are registered with the agency.

Appropriate action in the form of written warnings or withdrawing of registrations will be taken against registered contractors and their employees found to have engaged in unauthorised activities, NEA said.

In January, less than two weeks after a mix-up at a funeral parlour led to the cremation of a wrong body, NEA imposed tougher rules on licensed parlour operators, requiring them to use body identification tags bearing the name and sex of a deceased person.

In June, following calls by funeral services operators to raise standards, the agency said it will be leading a year-long study to access current standards, skills demands and manpower needs of the funeral services industry.

Later that month, NEA released guidelines for handling deceased persons in funeral parlours.

It also required all embalmers working at licensed funeral parlours to be registered with the agency and to attend the basic infection control course conducted by the National Centre for Infectious Diseases.