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Logistics worker, 74, dies after falling off elevated platform at loading bay in Century Square mall

2021-08-24 00:00:00.0 海峡时报-新加坡原网页

SINGAPORE - A 74-year-old Singaporean logistics worker died after he fell off an elevated platform at a loading bay in Century Square mall in Tampines.

The fatal accident occurred on Aug 13.

The man was pulling a hand trolley backwards in the loading bay when he fell off the open side of the 1m-tall platform next to a ramp.

He may have mistakenly entered the open side of the elevated platform instead of the ramp, the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council said in a bulletin on Monday (Aug 23).

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the worker, who was employed by AST Logistics, was taken to Changi General Hospital, where he died of his injuries the next day.

Investigations are ongoing.

In its bulletin, the WSH Council recommended that employers brief workers, especially new and temporary ones, on the various hazards in the workplace, including open sides in loading bays, before allowing work to begin.

The council also recommended installing warning signs or putting bright warning tape and labels at the open sides of elevated platforms to make fall hazards clearly visible.

Workers moving goods should also frequently check behind them for trip and fall hazards if they have to move backwards.

There have been at least 26 workplace fatalities since the start of the year.

In June, a spate of three workplace deaths in five days led the WSH Council and six trade associations to call for a safety time-out across 10,700 firms in the construction, marine, process engineering, manufacturing, transport and logistics industries.

That same month, MOM and the WSH Council also launched a new year-long campaign to prevent slips, trips and falls, which Senior Minister of State for Manpower Zaqy Mohamad highlighted as the top cause of non-fatal work injuries here.

The logistics and transport sectors were among those targeted in the new campaign.