Emergency contacts go stale — refresh them on purpose
Employer checklist when updating helper emergency contacts (Singapore) is the short process to keep who-to-call lists accurate for your migrant domestic worker: you and co-employers, the licensed EA, family abroad, and clinic. Day-one capture sits in Day One Orientation Checklist for New MDWs. What to do in a medical emergency sits in Emergency Procedures: Hospital and GP Visits. Document safekeeping sits in Passport and Personal Documents Safekeeping for MDWs (Singapore). This page owns updating the contact sheet.
General guidance only. MOM: mom.gov.sg. SmartMaid.com.sg is a marketplace. Licensed EAs place helpers.
Neighbouring hubs:
- Day-one orientation checklist
- Emergency procedures: hospital and GP
- Passport and personal documents safekeeping
- First polyclinic/GP visit checklist
- When to loop the agency into early issues
- MOM work-pass steps overview
- Written house rules sheet
- Overnight visitors
- This article: emergency-contacts update checklist
Step 1 — Triggers to refresh
Update when:
- New hire / day one (Day One Orientation Checklist for New MDWs)
- Co-employer phone change
- EA consultant change
- Family abroad number change
- After a clinic visit (Employer Checklist for Helper’s First Polyclinic or GP Visit (Singapore))
- Before long leave or travel
Step 2 — Minimum fields on one card
Keep a single sheet (paper + phone note):
- Employer + co-employer mobiles
- Licensed EA office / after-hours if provided
- Helper’s family contact abroad (with country code)
- Preferred GP / polyclinic
- Building security / condo guard if relevant
Store with docs habits (Passport and Personal Documents Safekeeping for MDWs (Singapore)). Soft WP overview only: MOM Work Pass Steps: Employer Overview (Singapore).
Step 3 — Save on her phone and yours
She must be able to dial without unlocking your phone. ICE-style labels help. Privacy: do not publish her family numbers on a public fridge note (#29 live).
Step 4 — Test once
Have her call you from the saved entry once. Confirm EA number still rings (When to Loop the Agency Into Early Issues if placement support is needed). Emergency *actions* still follow Emergency Procedures: Hospital and GP Visits.
Step 5 — House-rules pointer
Add one line in house rules: “Emergency card lives here” (Creating a Simple Written House Rules Sheet). Overnight guests do not replace emergency contacts (When Helper Asks for Overnight Visitors (Singapore)).
MOM rules
Welfare and fair treatment: mom.gov.sg. Soft only.
Checklist
- Trigger identified (hire / change / travel)
- Employer + EA + family + clinic fields filled
- Saved on her phone and yours
- Test call done once
- House-rules pointer updated
- Privacy respected (live #29)
Scripts
To helper: Let’s update your emergency card today — my number, the agency, and your family abroad. Save it in your phone and we will test one call.
To co-employer: When either of us changes numbers, we refresh her card the same day.
Bottom line
Refresh emergency contacts on purpose: one card, saved on her phone, tested once — so emergencies are not a scavenger hunt. Browse on SmartMaid; place through a licensed EA under MOM rules.
