Worker's fatal fall
PUBLISHED ONOctober 09, 2013 11:30 PMByRonald Loh
His body was found more than a day after he plunged down a shaft at Samsung C&T Corporation's worksite at Suntec City Mall without anyone realising it.
The Bangladeshi construction worker's demise on Wednesday added to the death toll of what was a killer week for the construction industry.
Last Monday, a crane collapsed at the National Art Gallery, leaving two workers dead and four injured.
In all, 13 people were injured in work place accidents last week. This includes the six hurt when a scaffolding they were on collapsed at Toa Payoh North on Wednesday.
In the case of the Bangladeshi worker who plunged to his death, TNP understands he was to replace light bulbs at the concourse area of the construction site at about 9pm last Monday.
But at about 1am the following morning, it is believed his foreman realised that he had gone missing.
When the foreman tried to phone the worker, he was uncontactable. TNP understands the foreman thought the worker had gone home.
It was only on Wednesday when the foreman was carrying out cable laying works to the electrical room when he noticed the body of the missing worker at the bottom of a shaft In an e-mail reply to TNP, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) confirmed the incident and said it had been informed of the accident at the site.
The ministry said officers from its occupational safety and health inspectorate responded immediately and were there to investigate.
MOM is investigating the incident.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and police said they each received a call for help at about 5.30pm last Wednesday.
Motionless
Police said they found the worker lying motionless at the site and the worker was pronounced dead on the spot by paramedics.
TNP understands that SCDF paramedics found that he had been dead for about eight hours. His working hours were from 9.30pm till 7am.
Police have classified the case as unnatural death.
MOM had also told the Straits Times earlier last week that it was concerned about the recent spate of accidents that took place.
Said its director of Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate, Mr Chan Yew Kwong: "Most workplace accidents could have been prevented if companies and workers had put in more effort to ensure that the risks were identified and mitigated."
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