Incidents involving Falls from Height

Recently, two incidents involving falls from height were reported within a span of two days. Two lives were lost.

Case 1 - Fall through Roof
A worker was found dead on the ground at the back of a factory unit. He had been assigned to repair the air-conditioning condenser unit on the external wall of the factory. He tried to access the condenser unit by climbing out of the window. As he stepped on the roof, he immediately fell 4.25m through the roofing material.

Case 2 - Fall from Formwork
A worker was working on the formwork of a 2-storey detached house. While receiving a reinforcement bar from another worker, he lost his balance and fell off the formwork to the ground 9.8m below. He was pronounced dead.


Recommendations
1. Prior to the start of work, conduct an adequate risk assessment to identify all potential hazards and the risks involved. Control measures and safe work procedures must be established and implemented.
2. Workers working at height (such as rooftop and formwork) should either be provided with an individual fall arrest system or a travel restraint system. This would include the use of safety harnesses, safety nets or safety belts. When using safety harnesses or safety belts, it must be securely anchored to a suitable anchor point or static line. Safety nets could also be slung close beneath the roof to protect workers from serious injuries.
3. Air-conditioning units may be installed on the ground level to eliminate the need for working at height. If the units must be located at height, safe and proper means of access to the external condenser unit must be provided.

4. Do not step directly onto the rooftops as the roofing material as it may not support the weight of a person. Instead, suitable working platforms such as cherry pickers and/or other safe means of accessing the roof should be utilised.

5. Whenever reasonably practicable, edge protection such as barricades or guard rails should be installed to provide protection against person falling off the formwork. The top rail must be at least 1m above the working surface.

Proper guard rail (blue arrow) installed as barricade

Worker fell into passenger hoistway

Recently, a worker fell to his death from the 11th floor of a building under construction while he was transferring building materials between a passenger hoist and the landing slab. It was likely that he had fallen through an unguarded gap between the hoist and the landing slab. The worker was found not to be wearing any personal protective equipment (PPE) including fall arresting devices.
The exit platform for the passenger hoist at the 11th was not guarded with any side barricades

Recommendations
1. Prior to the start of any work, conduct an adequate risk assessment to identify all potential hazards and the risks involved. Control measures and safe work procedures must be established and implemented.
2. Openings or gaps that create risk of persons falling through must be effectively guarded or barricaded. This shall include installing guardrails or side barricades at the exit platform of the passenger hoist.
3. Every worker working at height with a risk of falling must be provided with suitable and individual fall arresting device such as a safety harness with lanyard attached to a shock absorbing device. The safety harness must be worn correctly and secured to an anchor point or an independent lifeline at all times.
4. All personal protective equipment (PPE) provided to the workers, including safety harnesses, must be in good condition and be without any obvious indication of wear and tear.
5. Provide adequate lighting at the workplace to reduce risk of falls.
6. Workers must be constantly and adequately supervised to ensure that works are being carried out in a safe manner.
7. When using hoists and lifts, the Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations specified that:
a. every hoist shall be thoroughly examined by an authorised examiner at least once every 6 months or at such other intervals as the Commissioner may determine.
b. every hoistway or liftway used shall be efficiently protected by a substantial enclosure fitted with gates that will, when the gates are shut, prevent any person from falling down the way or coming into contact with any moving part of the hoist or lift.
c. every gate shall be fitted with efficient interlocking or other devices to ensure that: (i) the gate cannot be opened except when the cage or platform is at the landing; and(ii) the cage or platform cannot be moved away from the landing until the gate is closed. d. owner or occupier must not modify the hoist system after the 6 monthly inspection.


(Extracted from WSH Alert dated 5 Jan 2009)

Worker killed by toppled Stacked Boom Section

On the day of the incident, a group of workers was tasked to separate a telescopic boom into its individual sections. The separated sections were placed as shown in the figure, using an overhead travelling crane. After placing Boom-1 in its position, the crane operator began to hoist the chain slings away. As the chain slings were being hoisted away, Boom-1 toppled onto a nearby worker and pinned him against a steel block. He was conveyed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Recommendations
1. Crane operator should ensure that lifting gears are completely dislodged from the load before they are hoisted away. This is to prevent any entanglement of the lifting gears with the load.
2. All personnel involved in a lifting task, including the lifting supervisor, rigger, signalman and the crane operator should remain vigilant during the entire lifting operation.
3. Workers should stay away from the lifting zone and away from the lifting object.

(Extracted from WSH Alert dated 21 Jan 2009)

Worker fell from Formwork

Incident

In a recent accident, a worker fell to his death when he was using a chain block to lift a wall formwork into position.
During the lifting, he was standing on top of the formwork to operate the chain block. At the time of the accident, one of the wire sling ropes used for rigging gave way, causing both the formwork and worker to fall.
He fell 3m onto the floor slab below and succumbed to his injuries.



Recommendations
1. Prior to starting work, conduct an adequate risk assessment to identify all potential hazards and the risks involved. Control measures and safe work procedures must be established and implemented.
2. All persons involved in the work must be adequately trained to be competent for the job, as well as be aware of the risks and the safety precautions required.
3. For any lifting operations, only lifting appliance / machine / gear that have been tested and certified by an authorised examiner should be used. There should not be any unauthorised improvisation or usage of unsuitable or improper appliance / machine / gear.
4. Whenever reasonably practicable, provide engineering control measures such as proper working platforms.
5. Every worker working at height with a risk of falling must be provided with suitable and individual fall arresting device such as a safety harness with lanyard attached to a shock absorbing device. The safety harness must be worn correctly and secured to an anchor point or an independent lifeline at all times.
6. All personal protective equipment (PPE) provided to the workers, including safety harnesses, must be in good condition and with no indication of wear and tear.
7. Provide constant and adequate supervision of the workers to ensure that works are being carried out in a safe manner.
8. The Workplace Safety and Health (Construction) Regulations states that:
a. No person is to ride on the loads, buckets, skips, cars, slings or hooks of the machinery during work operations where hoisting machinery is used. (R138)
b. All works involving the erection or dismantling of formwork must be carried out only under the immediate supervision of a formwork supervisor. (R60)

(Extracted from WSH Alert dated 13 Feb 2009)