THE owner and foreman of a lift engineering company were each fined $50,000 yesterday over a fatal accident at a Collyer Quay worksite two years ago.

Chua Kwak Swee, 52, the de facto owner of Yew Tee Lift Engineering, and his younger brother Chua Tian Lok, 43, pleaded guilty to their respective charges earlier this month.

The older Chua failed to take measures to ensure the safety and health of his employees, which led to lift installer Chua Yew Meng falling 13 floors to his death in a lift shaft at the Ocean Building worksite in August 2007. Chua Tian Lok admitted to failing to ensure that a rope, damaged by a fire previously, was not used to lift the components of the lift. He also allowed the deceased to work in the lift shaft without providing lifelines and safety barricades.

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