Worker dies while unloading wire mesh

Worker dies while unloading wire mesh

A 24-year-old man who died in a workplace accident at 4, Tampines Industrial Street 62, on Tuesday was helping to unload wire meshes from a lorry loader when they fell, according to initial findings by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Responding to queries yesterday, an MOM spokesman said the accident happened at the worksite of Sunway Concrete Products, which makes precast concrete products such as columns and lift shafts.

He said the worker suffered fatal injuries after being struck by the wire meshes. The man is understood to be a foreigner.

Another worker at the site, who declined to be named, told The Straits Times he saw the man's throat pierced by the wire mesh.

MOM has instructed the firm to stop all lifting activities on the worksite, and said that investigations are ongoing. No stop-work order has been issued.

A spokesman for Sunway Concrete Products said yesterday the man was not one of its workers. The Straits Times understands that he was working for a company which supplies materials to Sunway.

Police said they received a call about the incident at 10.58am on Tuesday. The victim was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.

A post by Facebook user Mano Elangovan showed a picture of a man lying on the ground while other construction workers stood nearby.

Earlier this month, Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say stressed that existing safety efforts were "not good enough".

His comments were in the wake of 26 workplace deaths in less than four months this year.

In a previous fatal accident on April 16, a 36-year-old truck driver from India died when his parked vehicle rolled into him, crushing him against a wall in Loyang Way.


This article was first published on April 29, 2016.
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