Maids whose bosses make unreasonable requests were encouraged to come to the Ministry of Manpower for assistance.

The warning followed the death of an 18-year-old Indonesian maid who plummeted eight storeys July 26, the fourth Indonesian to die this year while cleaning windows or hanging out laundry and the 24th foreigner to die in similar circumstances over the past four years.

"Maids work and live in their employers' households," the ministry said in a statement published in the Straits Times. "Employers are ultimately responsible for ensuring their safety and welfare."

Stressing that bosses must play a key role in teaching their help how to perform household duties safely, the ministry said police would take employers to court if their criminal negligence led to a maid's fall.

Domestic workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and Sri Lanka compose the largest number of foreign employees in the city-state.

With many maids having no working experience in cities, the ministry sent employment agencies a video last year to give newcomers safety tips such as refraining from climbing out of windows. The ministry plans to take its educational programme further in September by providing every maid with her own kit in her native language.