Singapore tightens rules on window cleaning after nine maids fall to their death

Singapore has tightened rules on window cleaning after nine maids fell to their deaths this year from high-rise apartments.

The Manpower Ministry said in a statement today that maids are no longer allowed to clean the outside of windows unless they are supervised.

The ministry said seven of this year's nine maid deaths were due to dangerous window cleaning or hanging of laundry.

Local media today featured dramatic front-page photos of a 29-year-old Indonesian maid as she fell from her employer's 12th floor apartment window on Sunday, but was grabbed and rescued by neighbours one floor below.

The nine maids who fell to their deaths were from Indonesia, which supplies about half of Singapore's 200,000 maids.