SINGAPORE: A fatal incident at a container depot this week has brought the total number of workplace fatalities this year to 30, the same figure reported for the whole of 2020.
"This is a grim milestone that none of us would wish to reach," Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Melvin Yong said on Sunday (Oct 3).
In a Facebook post, Mr Yong said he was "deeply saddened to hear about yet another workplace fatality".
A 49-year-old man died on Friday at a construction site in Pioneer, said the police, adding that a 42-year-old man was then arrested for causing death by a rash act.
The worker, a Singaporean, died after he was crushed by a container, the Straits Times reported .
According to the report, the incident occurred as the container was being unloaded by a side loader.
The occupier of the worksite and employer of the deceased worker - Allied Container (Engineers and Manufacturers) - has been ordered to stop loading and unloading containers and to stop using side loaders, the Straits Times reported.
"The lives lost to workplace accidents are not just a statistic," Mr Yong said on Sunday. "The workers leave behind loved ones, mouths to feed, and questions to be answered."
He pointed out the latest fatality comes amid an ongoing inquiry into an explosion at a workshop in Tuas in February that killed three workers.
That inquiry "has raised worrying practices such as ignoring red flags and improper use of machinery", Mr Yong noted.
He urged companies in the construction and logistics and transportation sectors in particular to learn from recent incidents and "quickly put in place measures ... to plug any gaps in safety".
The construction and logistics and transportation sectors account for more than half of this year's workplace fatalities, Mr Yong said. Nine and eight workers have died in the construction and the logistics and transportation industries, respectively.
NTUC will work with unions to "push out more reminders and advisories" to workers to remind them to be alert at work and to look out for each other's safety, Mr Yong said.
"We can, and must, do more to stop this alarming rise in workplace fatalities because Every Worker Matters and Every Life Matters."
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"This is a grim milestone that none of us would wish to reach," Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Melvin Yong said on Sunday (Oct 3).
In a Facebook post, Mr Yong said he was "deeply saddened to hear about yet another workplace fatality".
A 49-year-old man died on Friday at a construction site in Pioneer, said the police, adding that a 42-year-old man was then arrested for causing death by a rash act.
The worker, a Singaporean, died after he was crushed by a container, the Straits Times reported .
According to the report, the incident occurred as the container was being unloaded by a side loader.
The occupier of the worksite and employer of the deceased worker - Allied Container (Engineers and Manufacturers) - has been ordered to stop loading and unloading containers and to stop using side loaders, the Straits Times reported.
"The lives lost to workplace accidents are not just a statistic," Mr Yong said on Sunday. "The workers leave behind loved ones, mouths to feed, and questions to be answered."
He pointed out the latest fatality comes amid an ongoing inquiry into an explosion at a workshop in Tuas in February that killed three workers.
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That inquiry "has raised worrying practices such as ignoring red flags and improper use of machinery", Mr Yong noted.
He urged companies in the construction and logistics and transportation sectors in particular to learn from recent incidents and "quickly put in place measures ... to plug any gaps in safety".
The construction and logistics and transportation sectors account for more than half of this year's workplace fatalities, Mr Yong said. Nine and eight workers have died in the construction and the logistics and transportation industries, respectively.
NTUC will work with unions to "push out more reminders and advisories" to workers to remind them to be alert at work and to look out for each other's safety, Mr Yong said.
"We can, and must, do more to stop this alarming rise in workplace fatalities because Every Worker Matters and Every Life Matters."
Continue reading...