$145k fine for general manager of NEA's Tuas facility that exploded in 2021, killing 2

SINGAPORE — The general manager of a Tuas incineration plant (TIP) has been fined $145,000 after a 2021 explosion led to the death of two employees.

On Nov 20, Ng Wah Yong, 56, pleaded guilty to one charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

This comes just two days after Ng's employer, the National Environmental Agency (NEA), was fined $230,000 on Nov 18 for safety lapses in the 2021 Tuas Incineration Plant explosion.

Another NEA officer, Christopher Lee Yew Binn, 50, divisional director of the waste infrastructure operations and management division of NEA at the time, is scheduled to undergo a pre-trial conference on Nov 28.

Lee also faces a single, similar charge to Ng.

The court heard on Nov 20 that Ng had been appointed general manager of the TIP sometime in 2018, and his duties include overseeing the safety and health of employees at the plant and safety at the workplace.

The charge focused on two major failures on his part as general manager of the plant — including a failure to ensure the PTW system for high-voltage switchgear racking works complied with regulatory requirements, and for failing to establish safe working procedures for such operations.

Ng's lawyer Stephania Wong had argued that the arc flash explosion had occurred due to an extremely rare fault in the switchgear's safety mechanism that prevented the circuit breaker from activating on the day.

She said that Ng had inherited the systems and procedures that were established and practiced at TIP for decades, after his appointment as general manager in 2018.

She pointed out that Ng had relied on the authorised personnel, the licensed electrical worker, to carry out high-voltage switchgear racking works compliant with current regulations.

She also added that while it was correct that there was no established safe work procedure when it came to high-voltage racking works, other safety control measures, such as training provided to the electrical maintenance branch team and signages placed around switchgear equipment, were present.

In response, DPP Chan said the fact that the team carried out prohibited live racking or that the dislodged piston that jammed the circuit breaker simply shows how the explosion happened chronologically.

"These two (factors) do not detract from how the agency and Ng's failures had contributed to the two deaths and one serious injury," said the prosecutor.

The DPP said the PTW system was defective as it lacked an essential gatekeeping function that would promote safety in work procedures, as those without the necessary qualifications are able to issue the permits for hazardous work.

Ng was also at fault as he did not make clear the safe working procedures for high-voltage switchgear racking works at the TIP.

"Ng did not exercise due diligence to ensure the agency established clear safe working procedures. There were no clear instructions given to the workers on the day of the accident that could guide them in such a high-risk environment where they are working with high-voltage apparatus.

On Nov 18, NEA had pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at work.

The explosion at the Tuas plant on Sept 23, 2021 resulted in the death of its two long-time employees, Kwok Yeow Wai and Wee Eng Leng. A third employee, engineer Low Yin Choon, was seriously injured.

Kwok, Wee and Low were sent to troubleshoot a fault and were inside an electrical switch room when the blast occurred.

Kwok, 65, was pronounced dead at the scene. Wee, 64, and Low, 59, had burn injuries and were taken to hospital, where Wee died three days later.

NEA had said after the incident that all three were senior staff of the plant's electrical maintenance branch, each with more than 35 years of service.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Agnes Chan said the trio had entered the switchgear room after another engineer flagged that he was unable to remotely switch off an induced draft fan after maintenance works were carried out on the fan in the morning.

He then issued a permit-to-work (PTW) which led the trio to the switchroom to troubleshoot, even though he was not qualified legally to issue such a permit.

The trio had been unable to trip the circuit breaker despite multiple attempts. At one point, the current flowing into the induced draft fan surged.

The explosion occurred after Kwok and Wee carried out prohibited live racking works — as current was still flowing.

On Nov 18, District Judge Luke Tan had agreed with the prosecution that there were three lapses in work safety measures that led to the explosion in 2021.

These included a failure to ensure PTW system for high-voltage switchgear racking works complied with regulations, a lack of proper equipment such as fire-retardant clothing for employees at the facility, and a lack of safe work procedures.

Senior Counsel Jason Chan, who represented NEA, had said on Nov 18 that while the agency deeply regrets the incident, the explosion was not caused by the lapses the agency is pleading guilty to.

But the judge rejected arguments by the defence, which had attributed the arc flash explosion to prohibited live racking works and a jammed piston.

In throwing out the argument that the explosion was not NEA's fault, the judge said the conditions that led to the incident were contributed by multiple areas of failure on the part of NEA.

In a statement released after the fine was meted out, NEA said it is taking responsibility for the shortcomings that were mentioned, including its PTW system, control measures and safety procedures for high-voltage work at the plant.

The agency stopped operations at the incineration plant in February 2022 after 36 years of service, as planned. The facility was eventually decommissioned in July 2022.

During its 36 years of operations, there were no other serious or fatal work injuries at the plant.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.