A shipyard owner in Singapore was penalized S$200,000 this Thursday (Oct 27, 2017) in connection with workers’ deaths. after being struck by a forklift in the year 2019.
On the 26th of May in 2019, a 30-year-old Bangladeshi blaster and painter Rahman Zillur was assigned to work at the Asia Pacific Shipyard’s (APS) location.
“Rahman was walking on the area of slipway, when a forklift carrying an explosives container to the storage area at the shipyard suddenly accelerated and crashed through a fence and fell in the slipway” officials from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced in an announcement on the press.
“The forklift was able to strike Rahman and he passed away in the accident from the injuries he sustained.”
The forklift operator Shanmugam Sivarasu was sentenced on the 21st of July for 11 months’ prison as per MOM. The forklift was operated without any instruction, and being aware that the brakes of the machine were defective.
“His reckless actions directly contributed to his death. Rahman,” said MOM.
The supervisor who oversees the team at the location, Yeduvaka Mali Naidu, was sentenced on August 10 for 11 months’ imprisonment following the appeal of the prosecution.
He let the untrained Shanmugam to use forklifts in multiple instances even though he knew Shanmugam was neither properly trained, certified or qualified to operate them as Manpower Ministry said. Manpower Ministry said.
“In the meantime to that, he also knew that the brakes on the forklifts were defective yet he used the forklifts that were defective and let Shanmugam who was not trained to operate them,” MOM said.
An MOM investigation revealed that APS as the employer of the work place, had not prevented the illegal use of forklifts and to ensure the proper maintenance of them and ensure repairs and maintenance were only completed by skilled workers.
“APS’s mistakes led to the tragic accident.” MOM added.
The lack of discipline at the time led to the death of a person in the year 2019. Sebastian Tan, the ministry’s director of the occupational safety and health and said the incident was “unacceptable and entirely avoidable”.
“Top management should assume the leadership role by ensuring that the safety and health management systems are in place, and workers and supervisors must ensure that the safety standards are followed throughout the course of work,” said Mr Tan.
“MOM strongly encourages all those involved to ensure that work safety and health an absolute prioritization.”
 in connection with workers' deaths. after being...){kind=link}