SINGAPORE — A day after figures released showed jumps in fatalities and injuries at the workplace in the first half of this year, a construction firm was fined S$150,000 — the stiffest fine ever to an employer — for failing to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety and health of its workers, resulting in a worker being killed on-site two years ago.

On Oct 25, 2012, an employee of CGW Construction & Engineering, Mr Zhou Shi Hong, fell about 6.4m to his death from the open side of a staircase landing on the second floor. The cause of his death was certified as “multiple injuries”.

An investigation by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) found that CGW had failed to erect guard rails at the open side of the stairwell and did not provide lifelines for workers to anchor their safety harnesses to, although it was the company’s responsibility to do so.

The company — which had been engaged as a subcontractor for the occupier of the worksite Hyundai Construction and Engineering — had also started work on the stairwell although it had not gotten approval from Hyundai.

The company today pleaded guilty.

In a post on his Facebook page, Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said: “A fine of $150,000 won’t bring the worker back to life and won’t eliminate or reduce the grief that the family must be experiencing. This new sentencing benchmark thus serves as a stronger deterrence to employers who ignore good workplace safety and health practices.”

“Workplace fatalities have been rising, and it is good that the Courts have handed down a tough sentence, and sent a signal that lapses in safety and health would not be tolerated,” he added.

CGW was previously convicted under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSH) Act in 2011 and was fined S$50,000. In that incident, which occurred in November 2008, the company was engaged to carry out the erection and dismantling of formworks and did not adhere to risk control measures, such as close supervision at all times and cordoning-off the work boundary with warning signs at ground level before dismantling works. The appointed formwork supervisor also did not have adequate safety and health training.

As a result, a construction worker, Indian national Palaniyandi Kumar, injured his arm and leg when he went onto the formwork platform, stepped onto an unsupported plank, and fell through the formwork.