SINGAPORE – A lorry driver has been jailed for five months for acts that resulted in the death of a colleague.
The boss of his company, Ban Keong Transport, was also charged.
The case was one of four fatal workplace accidents in which the perpetrators were sentenced in November.
In a statement on Monday (Dec 5), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said all four cases involved “taking shortcuts and lacking proper safe work procedures and risk assessment”.
The case involving Wanqiang Transportation occurred on October 12, 2018.
Truck driver Ho Man Kwong failed to determine the weight of the load he was hoisting on the truck and used unsuitable slings, which broke and killed a worker who was helping him.
JP Nelson Access Equipment, the company that hired Ban Keong Transport, was fined S$50,000 in 2021 for failing to ensure adequate safety and health measures were taken by the contractor.
JALAN BUROH factory fire
In another case, Summit Gas Systems was fined S$270,000 on Nov 30 for a fire at its Jalan Buroh factory that killed a worker in 2019.
The company’s director, Ellen Teo Soak Hoon, was also fined S$50,000.
Three workers at the Jalan Buroh factory were working in a shed when a fire broke out after a cylinder filled with LPG fell.
In a March 10, 2020, MOM report, a delivery system failure led to the fatal fire at the facility.
“One of the workers noticed some cylinders hitting each other on the conveyor belt,” MOM said on Monday.
Of the three workers, two managed to escape and the third died on the spot.
workers were crucified
In another case, a worker was killed after being crushed between two shipping containers.
The worker tried to gain access to his workplace by the only possible means – the space between the two containers.
However, as he tried to squeeze through, one of the containers shifted, trapping him in the space.
Karuppaiah Mathi, director of the company, quality engineering, Fined S$110,000 on 29 November for failure to perform due diligence.
The deceased’s co-worker was charged with negligent conduct resulting in the death of his co-worker.
sandwiched between the elevator car and the platform
In the fourth case, TC Builder and Machinery director Low Thiam Chuar was fined S$125,000 on Nov 18 for failing to ensure proper safe work procedures and risk assessments were in place.
On January 14, 2019, a worker died after becoming trapped between an elevator car and an elevator landing.
The worker, who goes by only one name, Tashfiqur, was in the elevator with the doors open Descend from the seventh floor to the sixth floor.
Tashfiqur then reached out from the open door of the elevator car to retrieve an unidentified object, but got Sandwiched between the elevator car and the seven-story elevator landing.
He was later pronounced dead at the scene.
“Employers and their top management have a responsibility to ensure safe work practices are in place to mitigate the risks involved in the work of their employees,” MOM said.
