Indian-origin man jailed for causing fatal accident at workplace in Singapore

PTI, Sep 7, 2023, 1:40 PM IST

An Indian-origin certified forklift operator in Singapore was sentenced to 18 weeks’ imprisonment for having caused death by accident at the workplace, the Manpower Ministry said here on Thursday.

Alagappan Ganesan, employed by Asiabuild Construction, was sentenced on August 15 for a July 7, 2022 accident following prosecution under the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Act, the Ministry said in an August report on prosecution cases released on Thursday.

On July 7, 2022, Ganesan was operating a forklift in a multi-story car park, where his compatriot Kunjappa Makesh and a co-worker were laying cables. To prevent the cable from being run over by the forklift, Kunjappa and the co-worker attempted to throw the cable over the forklift, which, instead, landed on its rear.

Kunjappa then climbed onto the rear of the forklift. But Ganesan started to reverse the machine resulting in Kunjappa getting caught between the forklift’s overhead guard and a beam.

He was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries, according to a Channel News Asia report.

The Ministry’s investigations revealed that Ganesan was negligent in performing his duties as a forklift operator.

“He did not pay attention to the environment or perform any checks before operating the machine,” it said.

The Ministry also said that operators of machinery such as forklifts or quay cranes must be vigilant and mindful of any workers in the vicinity.

In another workplace accident, an Indian-origin worker was killed when a quay crane operator failed to follow safe work procedures at a port site of PSA Corp.

Mohammad Asraf Rosli was given a seven-month jail sentence on August 25 this year for lowering a 20-foot reefer container onto co-worker Varathan Prabu on March 11, 2020.

Varathan and another colleague were securing containers on board a vessel when the incident happened. Varathan was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries.

The Ministry said investigations revealed that Asraf committed a reckless act by not ensuring that no one was standing beneath the container before he lowered it.