SINGAPORE – An operations manager in a container services firm, who wore slippers at work, died after rubber sheets weighing around 577kg fell on him in November 2018.
His colleague Lim Choon Hwee, who was a director at Dyna-Log Singapore at the time, asked a subordinate to place a pair of safety boots near the body and remove the slippers, which were not allowed at the workplace due to safety protocols.
The subordinate did as he was told, but the act was captured by a nearby CCTV camera.
On March 20, 49-year-old Lim was fined $8,000 after he admitted to modifying the scene of the fatal accident – an offence under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
Dyna-Log Singapore was fined $200,000 for failing to take measures to ensure the safety of its employees – another offence under the same legislation.
On Nov 22, 2018, the victim, Mr Yong Him Chong, was at the company’s premises in Buroh Street near Pioneer Road to check the contents of a container.
He was wearing slippers at the time, which did not comply with the firm’s safety guidelines for such work.
A bundle of rubber sheets, about 1.2m high and 0.8m in diameter, then toppled out of the container onto Mr Yong, pinning him to the ground.
Ministry of Manpower prosecutor Mohd Fadhli said that the bundle was not stacked in a stable manner and was likely displaced during transit.
Paramedics who arrived soon after the incident pronounced Mr Yong dead at the scene.
Following an autopsy, he was found to have died of traumatic asphyxia.
The court heard that his injuries were consistent with those of victims pinned by heavy objects.
* Shaffiq Alkhatib is The Straits Times’ court correspondent, covering mainly criminal cases heard at the State Courts.
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