Construction worker who fell to his death in Tampines did not secure harness to life line: Coroner
this is index.php01 Feb 2019 12:32PM
SINGAPORE: A construction worker who fell down a shaft at a site in Tampines in 2017 and died did not secure his harness to any anchorage point, a coroner’s inquiry found on Tuesday (Jan 29).
Mr Wu Sanyuan, 51, had been working for China Jingye Engineering Corporation at the construction site of a condominium in Tampines Avenue 10 on Dec 18, 2017 when the accident occurred.
The Chinese national was instructed by the work site supervisor to dismantle the aluminium casings at a mechanical ventilation shaft – a vertical passage meant for better air circulation – between levels 10 and 11.
He was meant to work on the casings with another colleague, Mr Liao Jigang, but Mr Liao left his partner to help another colleague at around 9.30am.
Nobody saw Mr Wu’s fall, and he was discovered on a wooden plank at level four of the shaft only after Mr Liao realised he was missing at around 10.30am, which then sparked a search for him.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at around 11.30am, and forensic findings certified that he had died from multiple injuries consistent with a fall from height.
DECEASED DID NOT HAVE HABIT OF USING LIFE LINES: COLLEAGUE
According to Mr Liao’s testimony, both Mr Wu and himself were wearing safety harnesses while dismantling the casing.
They were supposed to set up a “life line”, or an anchorage point which they would secure the harnesses to, but they did not as the shaft was small, and the life line “would have hindered their movements while working”.
Mr Liao also said that neither of them placed a wooden plank at each level of the shaft as part of the company’s safety procedures, admitting that this was an oversight.
The planks should have been placed at each level to break a fall.
Mr Liao believed that the plank on the fourth floor that Mr Wu had fallen on had been left there by other colleagues.
He also believed that Mr Wu did not not have the habit of using life lines and wooden planks while working.
The colleague that Mr Liao had gone to help also testified that he believed other colleagues would not deploy life lines as it might be troublesome.
HE COULD HAVE FALLEN BY LOSING HIS FOOTING: MOM
An investigation report by the Ministry of Manpower, which issued a full stop-work order at the time, suggested several possible scenarios for how Mr Wu could have fallen.
He could have lost his footing while standing on slabs protruding over the shaft, or while attempting to climb up rungs to exit the shaft.
After the incident, a notification was sent to industry insiders to create awareness of what went wrong, in order to prevent a recurrence.
The suggested measures that should have been in place included a thorough risk assessment, an effective fall arrest system, and sufficient lighting.
MOM lifted the stop-work order on Jan 29, 2018 only after adequate measures had been set up.
State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam called Mr Wu’s death “a tragic industrial misadventure” and extended her condolences to Mr Wu’s wife and family.
S$2 million grant launched to support ground-up efforts to support recycling, cut waste
this is index.phpPublished 22 JANUARY, 2019
SINGAPORE — Every morning, trucks from waste-management company Sembcorp make their rounds in several estates around Singapore to pick up recyclables from the blue bins at Housing and Development Board blocks.
The recyclables are sorted at Sembcorp’s Materials Recovery Facility in Tuas, but contaminated or unrecyclable items such as wet plastics, food waste and drinks make up a whopping 40 per cent of what is collected.
The Government has designated 2019 as the “Year Towards Zero Waste” and, in a bid to boost recycling rates, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources Amy Khor announced on Tuesday (Jan 22) the launch of a S$2 million grant to support community efforts to reduce waste.
“Through the ‘Towards Zero Waste Grant’, we hope to support ground-up initiatives from the people, public and private sectors that will rally the community to take positive actions, and help Singapore achieve its vision of a Zero Waste Nation,” Dr Khor told reporters on a visit to Sembcorp’s facility.
“I encourage individuals and groups with good ideas for reducing waste and recycling right to come forward to apply for this grant,” she said.
A spokesman from the National Environment Agency said further details on the grant would be available on its website on Feb 1.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, more than half of Singaporeans polled feel that it is important to recycle regularly but lack understanding of what materials could be recycled.
“Currently, 40 per cent of what goes into the blue recycling bins cannot be recycled because people put in items… such as shoes, tissue paper as well as items which are contaminated with food waste or liquid. As a result of this, the workers have to spend considerable time and effort to separate these items from what can be recycled,” said Dr Khor.
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Spotlight in Parliament on food poisoning
this is index.phpDr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for the Environment and Water Resources, said yesterday that the National Environment Agency (NEA) will look at improving the speed at which the public is notified of food operators’ licence suspensions.
This includes installing quick links on its website, and having push notifications to its myENV app to efficiently inform consumers of such suspensions.
She was responding to questions from four MPs about the spate of mass food poisonings last year.
NEA officers are now equipped with tablets to allow quicker access to food operators’ information and food safety history on the go, she said.
This will also help them plan their inspections efficiently and receive alerts of food-related incidents to allow for a quicker response.
In one incident, 82 people fell sick, with 47 hospitalised, after eating catered food from Spize restaurant in River Valley.
One of the victims, Sats officer Fadli Salleh, 38, later died.
The restaurant’s operating licence has been terminated, and the NEA will be pressing charges against the operator.
Dr Khor said if found guilty, operators who have committed the offence of serving food unfit for human consumption for the first time can face a fine of up to $10,000 and repeat offenders can face a $20,000 fine and up to three months imprisonment, or both.
NEA will also fine FoodTalks Caterer and Manufacturer after 131 people, made up of kindergarten children and teachers, fell ill after eating its food in another incident last November.
Dr Khor also said yesterday that the operating licences of TungLok Catering and the Grand Ballroom and affected kitchen of Mandarin Orchard hotel, will remain suspended.
Last November, 190 people fell ill after eating food prepared by TungLok Catering and the following month, 175 people suffered food poisoning after attending four separate events at the Grand Ballroom of the hotel.
The TungLok kitchen and the kitchen serving the particular ballroom of the hotel will have to comply with the requirements imposed by the NEA, including rectifying the lapses and sanitising the affected areas, for the suspension to be lifted.
Dr Khor added that NEA and Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore have been working to strengthen the overall regulatory framework for food operators in the lead-up to the formation of the Singapore Food Agency in April, and the penalty regimes for operators in significant food poisoning instances will be tightened.Fines will be increased and those who commit serious hygiene offences will be prosecuted.
The NEA has also stepped up its checks, carrying out 77,000 inspections on food retail establishments last year.
There have been more than 3,000 checks on caterers.
Source: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/spotlight-parliament-food-poisoning
Two construction firms fined S$77,000 for damaging water mains
this is index.php03 JANUARY, 2019
SINGAPORE — Two construction companies were fined a total of S$77,000 after their work projects caused “serious damage” to PUB’s potable water mains, the national water agency said on Thursday (Jan 3).
HSC Pipeline Engineering (HSC) and SNK Engineering & Trading (SNK) were fined S$47,000 and S$30,000 respectively in August last year for their offences.
“The damage resulted in a combined water loss of more than 6,400 cubic metres, or nearly three Olympic-sized swimming pools,” said the PUB in a media release.
HSC was charged for damaging a 1,200mm diameter water main on Dec 17, 2016 while carrying out underground pipe-jacking works at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 8 and Woodlands Avenue 9.
HSC had failed to ascertain the physical location of the water main, resulting in the jacking machine hitting it, said the PUB. The water agency had to shut down the water main and “received subsequent complaints of discoloured water supply from commercial premises nearby”.
PUB added that the company had previously also damaged a 150mm diameter pipe in June 2013 and the offence was compounded with a fine of S$3,000.
In a separate incident involving SNK, a water main at a construction site in Cecil Street was damaged on Oct 2, 2017 as the construction firm was carrying out removal works of an existing drain to construct a new drain and walkway.
SNK punctured a hole on the water main when hacking the existing drain, which resulted in 360 cubic metres of water loss, said the PUB.
It had failed to abide by the PUB’s protection guidelines on working near water mains, and did not exercise the necessary precautions to minimise the risk of damage, added the agency. This was the company’s first offence.
“In severe cases, damaged mains can lead to a disruption in water supply or discoloured water to nearby amenities and cause inconvenience to users,” said Mr Ridzuan Ismail, PUB’s director of water supply (network) department.
“We urge all contractors to exercise utmost caution and ensure adequate measures are in place when carrying out works near water mains.”
Under the Public Utilities Act Section 47A to protect water infrastructure against damage, those convicted for causing damage to PUB water mains with a diameter of 300mm or more could face a fine of up to S$200,000, and/or imprisonment for up to three years.
Offences that fall under the Public Utilities (Protection of Water Pipes Infrastructure) Regulations carry a maximum fine of S$10,000, and in the case of a repeat offence, a further fine not exceeding S$250 every day or part of the day during which the offence continues after conviction.
Repeat offenders or those who cause damage to mains above 300mm in diameter will be prosecuted in court.
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Eat’s all fine, caterers say business unaffected by food poisoning cases
this is index.phpPublished 16 DECEMBER, 2018
SINGAPORE — Of late, D’Fine Catering Services has noticed a curious trend among its customers: Some of them have asked the company not to “come so early” to set up its catered food.
D’Fine Catering manager Victoria Say told TODAY that her customers are treading cautiously after the recent spate of food poisoning incidents. While most customers would previously “close one eye” if the caterer came slightly earlier, some now “request that we keep within the time, and not come too early” in order to ensure that the food remains edible for the full four-hour period.
While they have had to deal with such requests as a result of the recent food poisoning cases, Ms Say said it has not impacted business, as the food catering firm is booked out for the Friday (Dec 21) before Christmas.
It was also business as usual at several other catering companies that TODAY spoke to.
Mr Jeremiah Ou, 31, director of Focaccia Foods Ptd Ltd, said that the company has not seen a drop in business orders.
Nonetheless, the incidents have made him more alert and aware of kitchen hygiene. “I’ve been using the four cases to emphasise to my staff on cleanliness and how we process our food,” he said.
However, one catering firm told TODAY that it saw a decline in orders after the food poisoning cases.
Eatz Catering managing director Novie Djyayanti Tjoa, 38, said that customers appeared to be “scared” by the spate of incidents as the company received fewer orders compared to previous years.
She told TODAY: “Usually around Christmas period, by mid-November I would have received at least three or four orders. Now, I only have one to two orders.”
Ms Tjoa said that the National Environment Agency (NEA) had suggested that caterers do not take on too many orders in light of the food poisoning incidents. The NEA has also been checking with catering companies on their contamination prevention methods and informing them of the steps to take to prevent food poisoning incidents.
Eatz Catering is taking additional measures to ensure food safety in its kitchen, said Ms Tjoa. She added: “Last time, only the hygiene officer will do the checks. Now business owners also have to double check.”
Singapore has seen four high-profile food poisoning incidents since early November. Forty-seven people were hospitalised and one person died after consuming food from Spize’s River Valley outlet between Nov 6 and 9.
Following this incident, 190 people fell ill after eating food prepared by Tung Lok Millennium for the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s public exhibition at the Singapore Expo. High-end hotel Mandarin Orchard Singapore was also forced to suspend its operations at its Grand Ballroom from Dec 5 after 315 people developed symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting, and 14 were hospitalised.
On Nov 26, 131 people — including kindergarten students and teachers — were hit by gastroenteritis after consuming food prepared by FoodTalks Caterer and Manufacturer for a pre-school camp.
CATERERS STEP UP MEASURES, CUSTOMERS NOT WORRIED
In light of the recent incidents, other caterers are also stepping up measures to ensure hygiene and food safety.
Pines Food Delight general manager Pearlyn Tan said that the company has increased its “food audits” — to test for bacteria and other microbes — to twice a month. These were conducted less frequently before.
The company is also doing more checks on its premises, equipment and vehicles, with its senior management conducting inspections “every other day” as compared with every weekend previously, she added.
Ms Kristine Layos, director of Quentin’s Eurasian Restaurant, said that in addition to issuing frequent reminders to staff to maintain good hygiene, the restaurant has imposed a limit on the number of catering orders. For instance, on Christmas day, it will take no more than four orders for lunch and four for dinner.
Other caterers have taken extra efforts to reassure their customers during this festive period. Neo Group, which oversees catering company Orange Clove, and AJH Catering offer kitchen tours for customers to let them have a first-hand look at their safety standards.
Ms Jessi Ong, assistant director of marketing and business development at Neo Group, said they are encouraging customers to take the kitchen tour before a big event to give them “peace of mind”.
AJH Catering also reminds its clients to adhere to NEA regulations to consume food within four hours, said its director, Mr Keshan Kumar, 31. Warmers are also used to ensure that food temperatures do not dip below 60°C during delivery. This is as food kept below that temperature could allow for the build up of micro organisms, increasing the risk of food poisoning.
Some customers who had ordered food for the festive season were also unperturbed by the recent food poisoning incidents
Lawyer Priya Gobal, 28, had placed her order from catering company Grain for an upcoming gathering before news of the incidents surfaced. But she was not concerned as she trusted the company. “I trust Grain as I have bought food from them numerous times in the past and have had no issues,” she said.
Privinnath Pillai, 28, who works in the financial industry, said that the incidents did not cross his mind when he made an order via online catering portal Foodline for an upcoming Christmas event. He was not worried as “a friend recommended the catering company” and he was provided with discount vouchers for his order.
Fire breaks out in Jurong West coffee shop
this is index.phpSINGAPORE — A fire broke out at a coffee shop in Jurong West, on Wednesday morning (Nov 21).
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to the fire at Blk 964 Jurong West Street 91, at around 9am.
There were no reported injuries and the fire was extinguished using one water jet and a hose reel, SCDF said.
A Channel NewsAsia reader said the fire started at a stall in the coffee shop.
A video on social media shows smoke rising from the coffee shop and spreading across the area as a fire engine arrives at the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. CHANNEL NEWSASIA