On Wednesday (7 Dec), a 28-year-old Bangladeshi landscape worker was hoisting a tree trunk onto a truck in Toa Payoh when it became dislodged.
Source: Google Maps
The tree hit him, causing him to fall and hit his head against the pavement.
He was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but unfortunately passed away from his injuries, reported The Straits Times (ST).
This accident brings the number of workplace fatalities this year to 43, the highest since 2017.
The landscaping worker was loading tree trunks onto a truck after pruning works were done along Toa Payoh East Road, near 1003 Toa Payoh Industrial Park, on Wednesday (7 Dec) at about 3.30pm.
According to ST, the 28-year-old was employed by Penta Landscape.
Lifting operations were carried out using a lorry crane. When one of the tree trunks was hoisted, it slipped from the lifting sling.
The tree trunk then hit the worker and caused him to fall.
He was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that as a general safety measure, all loads must be adequately rigged and secured by a competent rigger before lifting operations by mobile cranes.
They are now investigating the incident. Penta Landscape has been ordered to stop all tree pruning and lifting activities.
The latest incident marks the 43rd workplace fatality in 2022 after MOM put in place tougher sanctions to curb the rise in such tragedies in recent times.
Comparatively, there were 37 workplace fatalities in 2021, 30 in 2020, and 39 in 2019.
In June, MOM doubled the composition fines for offences observed during safety inspections.
Companies were also made to engage external auditors to review their management systems to see if they had ever been issued stop-work orders or had workers suffer major injuries during work.
The ministry also implemented a six-month heightened safety period from 1 Sep 2022 to 28 Feb 2023, reported ST.
During this time, companies will be banned from hiring new foreign workers for up to three months if severe lapses are found following a serious or fatal workplace accident.
Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad said the heightened safety period has been promising.
The average number of workplace deaths each month has dipped from four and a half to two since 1 Sep.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
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