Tuas shipyard accident: Search for worker who fell into sea called off
4 others hurt in incident involving collapse of part of concrete pier at Keppel Shipyard
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A Bangladeshi worker went missing after he fell into the sea off Tuas on Monday when part of a concrete pier at Keppel Shipyard collapsed.
The search for the 38-year-old man, which lasted about two days, was called off last night, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in response to queries.
Another worker also fell into the sea but was rescued.
He and three other workers were taken to hospital and treated for minor injuries. Two of them are Bangladeshi workers aged 29 and 31, one is a 48-year-old Chinese national, and the other is a 40-year-old Singaporean.
All four are in stable condition, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The missing worker, employed by Kumarann Marine, was on the pier when the accident occurred at 10.40am on Monday, the ministry said.
A crane - which was on the section of the pier that collapsed - toppled and ended up with part of its structure in the sea.
MOM is investigating the cause of the accident at 51 Pioneer Sector 1 and has stopped all work at the pier.
In photos of the incident circulated on social media, the crane can be seen next to a large vessel berthed at the shipyard.
In the photos, the crane's base appears to have buckled, making it fall towards the berthed ship.
The crane's boom - the long fixed arm used to move objects - appears to be damaged as well.
In a statement, Keppel Shipyard said it is working closely with the authorities to ensure that a thorough investigation is done.
When The Straits Times visited the shipyard at about 6pm yesterday, workers said they did not know about the incident, or declined to comment. A stream of workers leaving the shipyard were quickly ushered onto buses.
One contractor who declined to give his name said he saw a police car at the shipyard.
Mr Chong Kee Sen, emeritus president at the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, said it is uncommon for structures like a concrete pier to collapse.
Possible reasons could be overloading or a flaw in the pier's original design, said Mr Chong, a civil engineer by training.
Another possible reason is a lack of maintenance, he added.
Exposure to seawater can erode concrete structures, and can also result in steel reinforcement bars within the structure corroding, leading to further damage, he said.
Mr Chong said: "There should be a more robust inspection regime, especially for structures that are in seawater."
In a Facebook post yesterday, the Migrant Workers' Centre said the recent spate of workplace accidents is a worrying trend. It added that assistance and mental health support will be offered to the workers injured in the latest accident, and counselling services will be extended to others who were working nearby.
It said it will offer financial help to the missing worker's next of kin while they wait for work injury compensation to be paid out if the worker is not found or has died.
• Additional reporting by Amanda Lee
Rising concern over work safety
With Monday's incident, at least two workplace accidents have taken place at Keppel Shipyard in Tuas this year.
The latest incident is also the second one this year to involve the collapse of a large structure.
On March 28, two Bangladeshi workers, aged 30 and 42, died after they were thrown off a vessel docked at the shipyard after a structure on top of the vessel collapsed.
They were among three workers who were at work on a scaffold built around the structure.
The third worker, also a Bangladeshi, managed to cling on to the structure after it collapsed. The 25-year-old was later rescued by the shipyard's emergency response team and taken to hospital.
There is rising concern over slipping workplace safety and health standards in Singapore after an increase in the number of work-related deaths and major injuries in recent months.
As at Aug 3, 32 workers have died this year, compared with 30 work-related deaths recorded in 2020, and 37 deaths recorded last year.
