SINGAPORE — A concrete manufacturing company and its director of operations were handed fines of S$200,000 and S$125,000 respectively after a construction worker died in a workplace accident in June 2021.

In a press statement on Friday (July 7), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that YTL Concrete and Tan Chee Keong received the fines under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act on June 28, 2023.

It stated that on June 3, 2021, Durairaj Ramesh, a trained wheel loader operator, was filling storage hoppers with construction aggregates such as sand and gravel at the worksite’s stockpile area.

Subramaniyan Thiraviam, a construction worker employed by YTL Concrete, was taking photographs to stock-take construction aggregates in the same area.

While reversing the wheel loader, Ramesh did not check the reverse camera monitor and the rear and side view mirrors, and struck Thiraviam.

Thiraviam was taken to the hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries, MOM said.

Ramesh pleaded guilty on Jan 6, 2023 to an offence under section 15(3A) of the WSH Act, for failing to keep a proper lookout while reversing the wheel loader, which resulted in the death of Thiraviam.

Ramesh was sentenced to a jail term of two months.

In its investigation, MOM said that the company had failed to:

• Implement the control measures specified in the risk assessment, such as minimising the risk of vehicle collision by deploying signallers
• Establish procedures to ensure that incompatible works, such as the filling of storage hoppers via wheel loader and stock-taking of construction aggregates, do not take place simultaneously in the same area
• Implement a traffic management plan to minimise the risks posed by vehicles at the worksite, which include demarcation of zones for pedestrian access, displaying speed limit signs, and preventing unauthorised access

As the director of operations, Tan was responsible for the daily operations at the worksite, which include ensuring that necessary safety measures were in place to mitigate any work-related risks.

MOM added that Tan had failed to exercise due diligence to prevent the fatal incident, and had not visited the worksite for almost a year, despite being aware that there was neither a traffic management plan nor a signaller deployed at the worksite.

“Despite being aware of the risks involved, he did not put in place these measures. The lack of ownership and emphasis on safety resulted in a life lost,” MOM said.

The ministry warned that it will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant employers for safety lapses, and those responsible will be prosecuted if wrongdoing is found.

“Company management must take the lead in taking ownership of workplace safety and health to entrench a strong safety culture.

“Workers must also play their part and look out for one another. If there are unsafe practices or lack of safety measures in place, workers should report them to their supervisors or escalate them to MOM,” it added.

OTHER CASES OF SAFETY LAPSES

This is not the first time in recent months that a company has been prosecuted for safety lapses.

On June 28, MOM said that it fined a renovation firm, J & C Renovation Enterprise S$8,000 due to safety lapses that the authorities said posed "an imminent danger" to the company's workers.

The firm was also issued a stop-work order after observing several safety lapses at the shophouse in Eng Kong Terrace, in Bukit Timah, during an inspection by MOM on June 8. 

MOM said it had received public feedback on unsafe working-at-height carried out on the roof of the shophouse. 

"Apart from the unsafe acts and conditions of the worksite, there was also poor management of work activities," the ministry said.

In January this year, construction company EC Builders was given a fine of S$170,000 over safety lapses that led to one of its employees suffering a serious injury in a 2019 worksite accident.

Ali Mohammad Sohag, a construction worker employed by EC Builders, was instructed by his supervisor to inspect and tighten lifelines at a worksite.

MOM's investigations then found that EC Builders had failed to ensure that Ali had the relevant training and instruction regarding the installation of lifelines.

The company had also failed to properly consider the hazards relating to the installation of lifelines and the health and safety risks such work posed.