Death of prime mover driver at Keppel Harbour is third workplace fatality this year: MOM
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The prime mover driver died after the vehicle fell into the sea at Keppel Terminal on Tuesday.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO READER
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SINGAPORE – The driver of a prime mover who died after it fell into the sea at Keppel Terminal
In response to queries, a spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the 44-year-old Malaysian was behind the wheel of the vehicle at around 1.45am that day, and that the vehicle was attached to a trailer carrying two 20-foot containers.
“His vehicle swerved over the edge of a berth, decoupled from the trailer and fell into the sea. His body was recovered later that day,” the spokesman said.
As workers from port operator PSA Singapore helped to prevent the trailer from moving, divers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team conducted an underwater search.
The SCDF said the divers retrieved the driver’s body from the vehicle at a depth of 14m, and a paramedic pronounced him dead at the scene. The man was employed by freight forwarding company Handling System.
MOM reminded companies whose key activities include extensive use of transport or goods vehicles to have a workplace traffic management plan that is communicated to staff, contractors and vendors.
All companies must ensure that workplace traffic safety rules, training programmes and safe work procedures are followed.
The ministry also revealed that a pump attendant who died in a separate accident on Jan 19 is the second workplace fatality in 2023.
The 66-year-old Singaporean was knocked down by a car at a petrol station at 61 Sengkang East Road at around 1am. The impact caused him to fall and hit his head on the ground.
The man, who was employed by Zenith Management Consultants, was taken to Sengkang General Hospital. He died of his injuries on Jan 23.
MOM urged all road users, including drivers and pedestrians, to be vigilant when using shared spaces and to keep a lookout for others and potential hazards.
It said it is investigating both accidents and has not uncovered any serious workplace safety and health lapses that would warrant a stop-work order. But the employers have been instructed to appoint a workplace safety and health auditor to conduct a thorough audit of the workplace.
The first workplace death this year took place on Jan 12, when a 37-year-old worker from Myanmar fell four storeys
He was on a gondola with another worker, but both climbed out of the gondola to paint parts of the wall that were out of reach.
MOM informed their employer, ISOTeam C&P, to stop using the gondola and halt all work-at-height activities at the condominium. The company will be barred from hiring new foreign workers for three months due to its poor risk controls, the ministry said.
ISOTeam C&P’s managing director, Mr Sam Chen, will also be required to personally account to MOM for the lapses, and take responsibility for rectifications.
There were 46 workplace fatalities in 2022,
On Sept 1, 2022, MOM imposed a six-month heightened safety period that runs until Feb 28. During this time, firms are barred from hiring new foreign workers for up to three months if severe lapses are found following a serious or fatal workplace accident.
Following this measure, the average number of workplace fatalities nationwide per month fell from 4.5 between January and August 2022 to 2.5 from September to December 2022.
