Worker falls through roof, boss summoned by MOM to account for safety lapses under new measures to tackle workplace accidents

SINGAPORE — The managing director of a company specialising in waterproofing works was summoned by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to explain how its worker sustained multiple injuries from falling through a roof, in line with new measures to tackle workplace accidents that were put in place last week.

The company, Le Fong Building Services, was also ordered to stop work and banned from hiring new foreign workers for three months.

MOM said in a Facebook post on Thursday (Sept 8) that the worker fell more than 8m though a roof after the skylight panel he stepped on broke.

“He was fortunate to survive the serious fall, but sustained multiple bodily injuries, and is still warded in hospital.” 

It added that the company’s managing director William Lim was told to “turn up personally and account to MOM”.

After the serious accident, an inspection on Le Fong Building Services’ worksite found unsafe work practices that “directly contributed to the accident and posed imminent danger to other workers”, MOM said.

Le Fong Building Services is listed as a waterproofing installation registered contractor with an L1 grade, as stated on the website of the Building and Construction Authority.

The L1 grade denotes that the company is allowed to bid for projects of up to S$650,000 — the lowest bidding limit for registered contractors.

To address a recent spate of workplace fatalities, the ministry imposed a heightened safety period from Sept 1 to Feb 28 next year, such that a company may be barred from hiring new foreign employees for up to three months if it was found to have serious workplace safety and health breaches after a serious or fatal workplace accident.

In response to TODAY's queries, MOM confirmed on Friday that Le Fong Building Services is the first company to be dealt with under the new measures.

As of Sept 1, there have been 36 workplace deaths this year, one fewer than for the whole of last year.

In its post on Thursday, MOM said that Mr Lim has acknowledged the company’s failure to implement a proper system to address safety hazards from working at height. 

“He will need to ensure that rectification actions are carried out and a robust workplace safety and health system put in place before the stop-work order is lifted,” MOM added.

“Company leaders are in the best position to set a positive culture and shape safety practices on the ground… All company leaders must pay utmost attention to workplace safety and health.”

TODAY is contacting Mr Lim for more details on the accident and the condition of the worker.

During a safety forum last month, Mr Zaqy Mohamad, Senior Minister of State for Manpower, drew attention to the high number of major injuries at construction sites, on top of the fatality figures.

A total of 84 major injuries at construction sites were reported in the first half of the year, despite an overall drop in the past decade.

“This represents the worst performance since 2014 if we annualise this figure for the whole of this year," he said at the time, calling the injury and death figures "disheartening and unacceptable".

In interviews with TODAY in July, some workers and company managers said that the backlog of work due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on workers here have contributed to the recent spate of workplace accidents and fatalities.