Construction Site Fatal Accident

 Worker dies after steel bars fell on him at RTS Link station worksite

SINGAPORE: Construction site workplace fatal accident involving a construction worker died and another was injured after an incident at the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link station worksite on Thursday (Jun 27).

Both workers were struck by steel bars when performing steel reinforcement works for a pilecap at the RTS Link Woodlands North station worksite, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) told CNA on Friday.

The pilecap is part of the foundation system supporting the station. 

At around 9.30am, the steel bars "swayed and fell onto two workers", said LTA.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force and the police said in response to CNA's queries that they received a call for assistance at about 9.50am.

The 48-year-old Bangladeshi worker was brought to Woodlands Health Campus Hospital unconscious, where he subsequently died.

His 49-year-old co-worker, who was conveyed conscious to the same hospital, sustained minor injuries and has been discharged

A safety time-out has been called to review and further enhance the safety process, said LTA.

The authority added that it is assisting the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the police with their investigations.

LTA is also working with the main contractor and sub-contractor involved to assist the family of the deceased.

Penta-Ocean Construction Company is the occupier and main contractor of the worksite and it engaged Interno Engineering as a sub-contractor to perform the work, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said in response to CNA's query on Friday.

The employer of the deceased is Maranatha Contractors and the developer for the project is LTA.

"As a general safety measure, a suitable propping system should be designed and installed to support steel reinforcements for tall structures," said MOM.

"The required sequence of propping should be briefed and followed by all workers involved," it added.

MOM has instructed Penta-Ocean Construction to stop all steel reinforcement works in the worksite while investigations are ongoing.

Penta-Ocean was awarded a contract worth S$932.8 million (US$687.7 million) in 2020 for the construction of the RTS Link Woodlands North station, tunnels and the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine (CIQ) building in Singapore.

WSH Excellence Through Maximum Fines

Entrenching WSH Excellence with Increase in Maximum Fines and Mandatory Video Surveillance

To maintain the workplace fatal and major injury rates in 2023 (excluding 2020 when COVID-19 disrupted work) and entrench a culture of workplace safety and health (WSH) excellence, the Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce earlier announced two significant measures that will be implemented from 1 June 2024 onwards which include :

• Increase in maximum fines for safety breaches under the WSH Act’s Subsidiary Legislation, and 
• Mandatory installation of Video Surveillance System (VSS) at construction sites with a contract sum of $5 million and above. 

Increase in maximum fines for safety breaches

2 The Ministry of Manpower will be increasing the maximum fines from $20,000 to $50,000 as a stronger deterrence against breaches of the WSH Act Subsidiary Legislation that could result in death, serious bodily injury or dangerous occurrence (i.e. serious harm). The maximum fines are reviewed based on principles such as severity of the offence i.e. whether it was a major cause or contributing factor of serious harm. The increase in maximum fines is a proactive step towards strengthening ownership and accountability of WSH, particularly among senior company leadership who are responsible for shaping the safety culture at the workplace. More details on the increase in maximum fines can be found in Annex A. 

Mandatory installation of Video Surveillance System (VSS)

3The Construction sector remained a top contributor of fatal and major injuries across sectors in 2023, although there were improvements over the previous year. To push for further improvements in the sector, all construction sites with a contract sum of $5 million and above will be required to install the VSS at worksite locations where high-risk work activities are conducted. By enabling remote monitoring and video capture, the VSS acts as a deterrent for unsafe workplace behaviours, provides valuable training resources for companies, and offers insights for investigations of safety incidents and near-misses. This will foster a proactive approach to WSH management, and promote a culture of incident prevention in workplaces. 

4WSH is a collective responsibility, and all stakeholders must continue playing an active role in building a culture of WSH excellence in Singapore for workers and workplaces to thrive.

Annex A

MOM reviewed the provisions across 21 WSH Act Subsidiary Legislation, based on the following principles to determine the proposed maximum penalties for the first conviction: