Photograph showing the view of the inside of the underground storage tank (Source: MOM).

A local company by the name of Environmental Landscape Pte Ltd was fined $220,000 by the State Courts on Wednesday (14 August) under section 12(1) of the Workplace Safety and Health Act (“WSHA”) for failing to take adequate safety measures for its work in an underground storage tank at 131 Lorong Semangka.
In a press release, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) described how four workers from Environmental Landscape – Rahman Mohammad Ataur, Miah Sobuj, Uddin Mohammad Riaz, and Alagappan Vignesh – were instructed by Hossan Billal to clean an underground storage tank, a confined space 3.2m deep, that was accessible only via a ladder at the only manhole open at the time on 25 July 2016.
After Miah entered the confined space, Rahman passed him a floodlight and electrical socket and then joined him underground. As it was Vignesh’s first day at work, he stayed above ground to observe and familiarise himself with the job.
As the last worker, Uddin was entering the confined space, Rahman switched on the socket extension to activate the floodlight. This sparked off an explosion which was strong enough to propel Uddin and the ladder out of the confined space’s entrance.
Burnt, Uddin ran and dived into a nearby pool to ease the burning sensations on his body, while other workers assisted Rahman and Miah to climb out of the confined space. Uddin, Miah and Rahman were all conveyed to the hospital to treat their injuries.
MOM then said that its investigations revealed that Environmental Landscape failed to conduct any risk assessment for the work activities related to the cleaning of the confined space.
Critical hazards such as the presence of toxic or flammable gases were not identified nor addressed before the workers entered the confined space to carry out work, it added.
It also noted that all four workers were not trained to work within a confined space. Neither were they informed of the risks involved (e.g. oxygen deficiency/ enrichment, built-up of flammable or toxic gases which could lead to an explosion) and the safety precautions that should have been taken.
The company also failed to develop and implement procedures for dealing with emergencies that might arise while its employees were at work in the confined space.
In connection with the same incident, Hossan was also charged under the WSHA for instructing the workers to perform the cleaning works without ensuring that it was safe for the workers to do so.
Mr Sebastian Tan, MOM’s Director of Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate, said, “The company had endangered the lives of its workers by requiring them to perform a high-risk job without any training, instruction, safety equipment or emergency rescue system. This blatant disregard for workplace safety and health is unacceptable. We will continue to press for high fines against employers who knowingly put their workers at risk.”

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
You May Also Like

SM Tharman Shanmugaratnam: Keeping social mobility alive and strengthening Singapore’s social compact in a post-COVID-19 world

On Wednesday (17 June), Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies…

国人印尼桑吉昂岛潜水失踪

一名国人于周日(11月3日),在印尼西爪哇万丹的桑吉昂岛海域潜水时失踪了,失踪者还包括两名中国籍公民。 外交部发言人于周二(5日)发布的通告中指出,新加坡驻雅加达大使馆以及经联系上失踪者家属,并为他们提供援助,同时和印尼当局保持紧密联系。 根据印尼国家搜救局(Basarnas)指出,三名失踪者是和另外四人到桑吉昂岛度假。 据《雅加达环球报》报导指出,其中六人一起进行短程集体潜水,另一人则浮潜;印尼新闻网站《声音》(Suara)报导则指,短程潜水的六人分成两组人进行,其中一组人安全上岸,但是另一组人则失踪了。 据《海峡时报》指出,印尼搜救局证实的失踪国人为王秉阳(Wang Bing Yang),而两名中国人分别是秦学涛(Qin Xue Tao)和田瑜(Tian Yu)。 当局携手印尼警方及海军部队,已经派出10名潜水员、五艘船只和一架直升机进行搜寻工作。(人名全为译音)

阻断措施开始兼职送餐员 英男放眼为慈善机构筹10万元

一名威尔士的49岁英国人,自阻断措施实施后就兼职GrabFood的送餐员服务,希望能在阻断措施结束前筹获10万元,并将部分款项捐出给慈善机构。 爱立信电信业(Ericsson Telecommunications)经理安东尼(Anthony Houlahan)并没有面对任何裁员问题,他除了保持日常工作之余,还忙于为儿童癌症基金会筹款。截至昨日(6月4日)为止,他已经为该基金会筹获了5万6000元。 据《海峡时报》和《英国广播公司》(BBC)报道指出,这名已在我国定居了18年的永久居民表示,他自阻断措施于4月份开始,就在家办公。但是他为了持续运动,决定在这段时期的闲暇时间兼职送餐员,展开十万元筹款运动。 他认为这是一种锻炼精力和身体的同时,也能为社会和新加坡做出回馈的方式之一,坦诚他受益良多。“这是一个刻骨铭心的决定,我选择(捐款给)儿童癌症基金会,因为我想帮助这些有需要的孩子。他们并没有做错任何事情,却要面对这种病,还要终身面对。” 目前他独自在本地居住,其妻子和两名分别21岁和23岁的女儿则回到英国。 阻断措施自4月21日开始实施,而他在4月22日就开始兼职活动,在傍晚和周末时段送餐。他在五天内就筹获了4500元,两周筹获了1万5000元,迄今就筹获了5万6000元。 他所筹获的资金,除了送餐费之外,还有来自Giving.sg网站所承诺的小费和捐款,该网站已从293名捐助者那里筹获4万4171元。捐款者承诺,当安东尼赚取1元时,他们分别捐出0.5至1元。“很多人给我小费,让我捐给慈善机构。这让我觉得自己所做的事情更有价值,也有所影响。” 而他每天也在社交媒体上发帖,跟进所筹获款项。 他披露,他工作日时平均一天送出8个订单,一天内送出21个订单,骑行77公里是他的个人最高纪录,坦言深刻体会了送餐员的辛苦,但是他不会停止。 “天气可能很热,也可能下雨。这是一份艰辛的工作。很多人这么做是为了养家糊口。……所以我对他们(送餐员)致以最大的敬意。”…

贸工部发文告证实安得拉邦新首府项目已终止

续印度媒体上周率先报导,印度安得拉邦(Andhra Pradesh)新政府内阁,于上月30日宣布正式取消阿玛拉瓦提(Amaravati)新首府发展项目,我国贸易与工业部也在昨日正式发文告证实此事。 根据贸工部文告,上述项目透过当地政府命令在本月11日终止,且获得安得拉邦政府和参与的新加坡财团双方同意。去年6月7日,新加坡财团由胜科城镇(Sembcorp Development)与星桥腾飞(Ascendas-Singbridge)合资组成。 负责贸易事务的部长易华仁称,2017年,新加坡财团获得安得拉邦政府委托,把6.84平方公里的起步开发区,发展成新首府阿玛拉瓦提。 “我们获悉新当选政府考量该州优先事务,决定不再延续上述项目。而企业也理解在海外市场投资的风险,投资决策也纳入这些因素。”他透露尽管新加坡财团已对该项目投入几百万元,惟项目终止未影响他们在印度的投资计划。 “有鉴于市场的规模和潜能,新加坡企业仍对安得拉邦和在其他印度州属的商机感兴趣。我们的经济机构仍会继续辅助这些国际公司开拓印度和其他海外市场商机。” 另一方面,胜科工业也在昨日发文告,指安得拉邦新首府项目的终止,不会影响凯德集团和胜科在印度的投资,也不会对该公司至年终的每股收益和资产净值阐述影响。 自2014年起,淡马锡旗下公司一直参与阿玛拉瓦提的建城项目。2015年,盛裕控股集团(Surbana Jurong)便提出建成项目的总计划。 2017年,胜科城镇发展印度公司(Sembcorp Development…