Firm's director dismissed workers' concerns about machine leak

When workers raised concerns after a leak was found in a mixer machine, their boss Chua Xing Da thought it was a "small thing".

And even after it caught fire, he tried to persuade a concerned worker that it was not dangerous.

That worker, along with two others, later died as a result of an explosion linked to the machine.

Yesterday, Mr Chua, 37, the sole director and shareholder of Stars Engrg, testified before an inquiry committee looking into the blast.

It happened at around 11.20am on Feb 24, at a workshop at 32E Tuas Avenue 11.

Ten workers, including eight employed by Stars Engrg, were injured in the blast. Three died from severe burns that covered 90 per cent of their bodies.

They were Stars Engrg employees Anisuzzaman Md, 29, Subbaiyan Marimuthu, 38, and Shohel Md, 23.

Yesterday, Mr Chua testified before the committee chaired by Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun.

He was the fifth witness to testify since the hearings began on Monday. The four witnesses who testified earlier were current and past employees of the company, including one who survived the blast.

Stars Engrg is a fire protection company that made an insulation called fire wrap.

Its production involved using a mixer machine to create a clay-like material, by heating water and mixing it with ingredients including potato starch.

The machine, purchased online, was installed at the workshop in June last year.

It used nine heaters to heat oil in an oil jacket compartment that wrapped the mixer. When it was used on Aug 8 last year, a heater emitted a spark and smoke.

Workers observed smoke from the machine again on Aug 28 and Sept 21. A leak at the corner of the machine was found by workers on Sept 28.

All these incidents were reported to Mr Chua, but the leak was not immediately dealt with.

On Oct 12, workers again raised concerns about the leak, saying it appeared to be bigger.

But Mr Chua told the committee that he did not think of examining the cause. "I thought this was a small thing," he said.

He told the workers to repair the machine by welding it, and said he thought he had adequate experience and knowledge because Stars Engrg has "experience in big motors and hydraulic machineries".

Mr Chua claimed that he supervised the repairs either in person or through calls and messages.

"I would not have been the person carrying out the repairs, as I had many things to do as the director of Stars," he said.

Smoke was again seen coming from the machine on Jan 8 this year.

On Feb 12, a fire broke out at the corner of the machine, but was put out by the workers.

Mr Marimuthu raised concerns that the machine was dangerous.

Mr Chua said he tried to alleviate Mr Marimuthu's fears and messaged him: "Actually this fire not come from the machine... U thinking the machine very dangerous but actually no."

On the morning of Feb 24, at about 8.40am, another fire broke out at the machine and was again put out by the workers.

Mr Chua told the inquiry committee that he did not instruct any of the workers to continue operating the machine, and had told Mr Marimuthu to wait for him to arrive.

At about 11.15am, Mr Marimuthu sent a photo of a damaged heater from the machine to the company's engineer, Mr Lwin Moe Tun.

Less than 10 minutes later, the explosion happened.

Mr Marimuthu and seven of his colleagues were taken to hospital with burn injuries.

He died, along with Mr Anisuzzaman and Mr Shohel, shortly after.

Mr Chua said that after the incident, Mr Lwin Moe Tun told him he was scared and wanted to delete the messages and photo he had received from Mr Marimuthu.

Mr Chua said he did not instruct him to delete them, but said "OK".

Mr Lwin Moe Tun deleted the same messages and photo from Mr Marimuthu's phone, before handing it over to Mr Chua, who then gave it to the police.

However, the police managed to recover the photo.

Mr Chua said he had been trying to get a new machine from the same company in China after the Feb 12 fire.

A key concern raised in the inquiry was the use of the machine and whether the amount of oil poured into the oil jacket was adequate.

Statements from the workers and Mr Chua have thus far indicated it might not have been operated as intended, with inconsistencies regarding the use of the temperature sensors.

Mr Chua will continue to testify and answer questions from the committee today.

The first tranche of hearings will last till Oct 8, while the second tranche is expected to be from Nov 15 to Nov 19.