A 36-year-old man was killed after he was struck by a sheet pile at a Sengkang construction site yesterday, the fourth reported death of a foreign worker from a worksite-related incident since the start of the year.
The Indian national was working at the Anchorvale Road site, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in a statement. The Sunday Times understands that he was carrying out piling works.
Police said they were alerted to an industrial accident at 327C Anchorvale Road at about 9am, adding that a worker was found motionless at the scene. He was pronounced dead by paramedics.
MOM said the occupier of the worksite is Ken-Pal, while the worker was employed by Harris Construction.
The ministry as well as the police are investigating the incident.
The death yesterday came just over two weeks after another Indian construction worker died at a worksite of the Changi East project, which includes Changi Airport Terminal 5.
On Feb 22, the 27-year-old man was on the left of a tipper truck at a T-junction when the vehicle made a left turn and hit him. MOM said it was the first fatal accident at the worksite. Police later arrested a 32-year-old man for causing death by negligent act.
On Jan 22, a 27-year-old construction worker fell to his death when the rope he was attached to snapped after part of it became entangled with the side mirror of a passing bus.
The worker, who was also an Indian national, was painting the exterior of the Royal Plaza on Scotts.
About a week earlier, on Jan 14, a 28-year-old Bangladeshi worker was killed after a Housing Board lift that was undergoing upgrading seemingly dropped from the fifth to the first floor. The worker was part of a team carrying out lift replacement works at Block 805 in Chai Chee Road, MOM said.
Figures released by MOM last month showed that 41 workers died from workplace injuries last year, one fewer than the year before.
MOM attributed the decline in workplace fatalities to the Workplace Safety and Health Act enacted in 2006, though it said falls from height; slips, trips and falls, and vehicle-related incidents remained the top causes of fatal injuries.
The construction sector remained the top contributor of deaths, with 14 fatal accidents, two more than the year before.
