Maximum $1m fine for construction firm; two of its staff jailed

A construction firm was given the maximum fine over the 2017 Pan-Island Expressway viaduct collapse that left one worker dead and 10 injured.

Two of its senior employees were also jailed yesterday.

Or Kim Peow Contractors (OKP) was fined $1 million for failing to take reasonable measures to ensure the safety of its workers.

Project director Yee Chee Keong, 51, was sentenced to 13 months' jail, and project engineer Wong Kiew Hai, 32, was sentenced to 11 months' jail.

The firm and the two employees were found guilty in January after a 60-day trial.

The men had recklessly endangered the workers after failing to call for all work to be stopped even when cracks on crucial brackets were spotted.

They also obstructed the course of justice by deleting messages and photographs relating to the accident and lying to the authorities.

In the early hours of July 14, 2017, the uncompleted viaduct in Upper Changi Road East collapsed, causing the death of Chinese worker Chen Yinchuan, 31. Ten other workers were hurt.

Four individuals and main contractor OKP were charged in 2018 in relation to the incident.

The four were Yee and Wong; Indonesian Robert Arianto Tjandra, 47, the engineer who prepared building work plans for the viaduct; and Leong Sow Hon, 62, the accredited checker for its construction.

Tjandra and Leong were dealt with in 2019, while OKP was previously fined $10,000 for carrying out unauthorised strengthening works on the permanent corbels of the viaduct.

OKP claimed trial for the charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA).

On June 30, 2017, two weeks before the collapse, cracks appeared on parts of the structure but were not properly dealt with.

On the day of the incident, 40 minutes before the collapse, Wong discovered much more serious cracks and called Yee, but neither made the decision to stop work at the site.

The prosecution said OKP, Yee and Wong had failed to safeguard the workers through their acts and omissions.

After the collapse, Yee deleted his messages with Wong and lied to the authorities that he gave the order for work to stop but there was no time to do so before the collapse.

Similarly, Wong deleted his messages and the photographs he took of the cracks from his phone, and also lied that he had ordered work to stop.

In handing out the sentences yesterday, Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun said there were no applicable mitigating factors for the accused persons.

"This is a case where stern deterrent sentences ought to be imposed," he said.

OKP was previously fined $250,000 for another workplace accident that resulted in the death of a worker and the injury of three others in 2015.

As a repeat offender, it was handed the maximum fine of $1 million, which it is expected to pay by Wednesday.

A spokesman for the company said it was glad that there is now closure to the accident.

"We have since re-calibrated how we work with our subcontractors and other stakeholders," she said.

"We take this opportunity to recommit our responsibility towards WSHA and safety."

For recklessly endangering the workers, Yee and Wong could have each been jailed for up to two years, fined up to $200,000, or both.

They could each also have been jailed for up to seven years and fined for obstructing justice.