HE had been issued with demerit points, counselled and put under close monitoring for two months by his employer for not adhering to safety regulations.

But just six months after, Sasman Salleh, 38, was at it again. This time, the stevedore who was contracted to work at the PSA International Tanjong Pagar Terminal paid for the negligence with his life.

State Coroner Victor Yeo on Monday returned a verdict of misadventure on his death last year. His family members were not in court.

Court documents said that that Sasman and a colleague were tasked to remove metal bars which secured containers on a container ship berthed at the terminal in the early hours of Nov 28 last year.

At about 5am, Sasman stood on the portside platform near the edge of the vessel, dismantling a 4.5m-long metal bar.

However, the bar, which weighed about 15kg suddenly dropped onto the platform and into the sea, causing Sasman to lose his balance and fall overboard as well.

A colleague who was standing nearby, rushed over to help and spotted Sasman shouting for help in the water.

He went to the back of the vessel to get a life buoy but when he returned, Sasman had gone under.

A search and rescue operation was mounted but he was nowhere to be found.

His decomposed body finally surfaced the next evening, near the spot where he had fallen.

Investigations revealed that Sasman had not been using a safety belt at the time of the incident.

Stevedores, who help to load and unload container ships, are issued safety belts and are required to secure them onto a fixed point of the containers while working.

Sasman's employer had also made it mandatory for all stevedores to wear life jackets, but he failed to do so.