Cleaner’s death in Punggol HDB block's trash compactor room a ‘work-related misadventure’: Coroner

SINGAPORE — The death of a 54-year-old sweeper in the central refuse-chute compactor room of Block 623C in Punggol Central last October was ruled a work-related misadventure on Wednesday (Dec 21).

State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said that the cause of death of Lim Hee Huat on Oct 16 last year was mechanical asphyxiation, as a result of his upper body being pinned by the closing motion of the refuse handling equipment’s discharge gate.

Mr Nakhoda said that no mechanical or electrical faults in the machine were detected that could have contributed to the death.

No foul play was involved, the coroner’s inquiry found. Three of Lim’s family members were in court for the hearing.

When the death was first reported, there were little details of the incident apart from the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council saying it was informed of a "man-trap" situation and that its worker had succumbed to his injuries.

The police had also said then that no foul play was suspected.

WHAT HAPPENED

Delivering his findings in court on Wednesday, State Coroner Nakhoda laid out the background of the case and chronology of the incident.

He said that at the time of Lim’s death, he was working as a sweeper and part of his tasks include clearing the refuse tray and sweeping the floor of the centralised rubbish chute.

However, these tasks could be done without operating the refuse handling equipment.

Lim, as well as other block cleaners, were not authorised nor trained to operate the refuse handling equipment. Only SembWaste rubbish collecting crew and the equipment maintenance personnel were trained and authorised to do so.

The court heard that it was likely that Lim had learned how to use the equipment by observing the rubbish collecting crew operating it daily.

The equipment is operated via a panel on its right side. Pressing a button will open its gate to discharge refuse. 

When the button is pressed again, the equipment will first stop discharging rubbish, before the gate begins to close automatically about 50 to 60 seconds later. There was no alarm to signal when the gate was closing.

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage from a multi-storey car park near the central refuse-chute compactor room showed that Lim had operated the machine on Oct 14, 15 and 16 last year when cleaning the room.

It was unknown why he had done so.

On the first two days though, he could be seen moving away from the equipment as its gate closed.

On the fateful day of Oct 16 at about 8.03am, the CCTV footage showed Lim going to the right side of the machine, presumably to operate it, as the discharge gate was seen opening.

Roughly 15 seconds later, he was again seen walking to the control panel, and he was likely to have pressed the button again as the equipment then stopped discharging refuse.

Lim was then seen reaching inside the equipment, with his upper body leaning over the tray. About 50 seconds after he had pressed the button, the discharge gate lowered, but Lim was not seen moving away.

No other person was around when he was pinned.

While there were vehicles and pedestrians walking past the area, it was likely that their vision of the rubbish compactor room was blocked by the large bins in front of it.

Only at about 8.12am, a motorcyclist and his pillion rider who were leaving the car park were seen looking in the direction of the compactor room. Together with other motorists at the scene, they approached the room, and the police were called at about 8.15am.

By the time the police arrived at 8.24am, Lim was found to be unresponsive. Paramedics who arrived about four minutes later could not detect any pulse.

The equipment could not be opened by officers on site due to a power trip feature built in that would automatically cut off electricity when an object obstructed the discharge outlet.

A SembWaste rubbish collector who was working nearby the area at about 8.54am was called over to help. He then managed to override the power trip and open the discharge gate.

State Coroner Nakhoda on Wednesday said that Lim had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

However, when he was last seen by the institution on July 9, 2021, his condition was found to be stable and he had been compliant in taking his medication. 

There were no signs of suicidal or homocidal ideation on his part.

Hence, there was no evidence to suggest that Lim had deliberately put his body into the equipment, and the courts opined it was “simply a tragic accident”.

State Coroner Nakhoda expressed his deepest condolences to Lim’s family. 

He took the opportunity to stress the need to remind all cleaners to not use equipment beyond their job scope and were not authorised to operate.