Fire breaks out, 11 injured

Morning blaze at the former Paramount Hotel took SCDF personnel five hours to put out

by Amanda Lee

04:45 AM Jul 17, 2012

SINGAPORE - The fire alarm went off as Mr Florante Mollena was surfing the Internet in his room on the ninth floor of East Village Hotel at 9am yesterday, but he brushed it off thinking it was just a drill.

He then looked out of the window and saw billowing black smoke. "I panicked … I quickly packed my things and ran down the stairs with another five or six hotel guests," said Mr Mollena, a 38-year-old Filipino who was in Singapore on a business trip.

The fire at the former Paramount Hotel created a black cloud of smoke so immense it could be seen several kilometres away at the Central Business District. It took five hours to put out the fire.

Narrowly avoiding being caught in the building while the fire raged was Bangladeshi construction worker Mohammad Nazrul Islam. He and his 15 colleagues could not enter the building to do renovation work when they reached at around 8.40am.

"I come to work, I see smoke come out of the building," said the 32-year-old, who was supposed to start work at 9.30am.

Lieutenant-Colonel Abdul Razak, Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) Public Affairs Director, told Channel NewsAsia the blaze was one of the more challenging fires the SCDF has faced in recent years.

The SCDF was informed of the fire at 9.06am, and arrived within eight minutes with 19 SCDF vehicles and 80 SCDF personnel. The fire was in the basement of the front block - a retail annex - and involved vast quantities of polystyrene boards and other construction materials including flammable liquid. It did not spread to the main building.

Three main challenges to the operation were the raging fire at the basement, the zero visibility for the firefighters and the difficulty in getting to the fire in the basement due to the stacking of construction materials.

Fifty personnel were evacuated in a search-and-rescue operation. The SCDF said 11 were injured: Two SCDF personnel, five adults and four children.

A Singapore General Hospital spokesperson said seven of the 11 were discharged yesterday. The remaining four are in the high dependency ward but their conditions are stable.

Mr Raphael Saw, Chief Operating Officer for the Hospitality Business Group at Far East Organization, said the hotel has offered guests assistance in medical treatments, arranged for alternative accommodation for guests and helped to facilitate their ongoing travel arrangements, he added.

Marine Parade GRC Member of Parliament Goh Chok Tong visited the site yesterday evening to assess the damage. On his MParader Facebook page, he thanked the SCDF team, whom he described as "brave men".

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120717-0000028/Fire-breaks-out,-11-injured

2 die and 8 injured in Downtown Line accident

10 workers were working on the casting of permanent roof slab between the new and old sections of Bugis MRT station. Eight were on top of the scaffolding supporting the formwork, while two others were working below.

Then, at 6.50am, the scaffolding 4m below the surface collapsed while workers were pouring concrete into the formwork.

Eight workers were injured and sent to Raffles Hospital, and two were missing. At 9.50am, LTA said that the two workers were still unaccounted for.

Over 50 SCDF rescuers and police officers arrived at the accident site with LTA employees, construction workers and two search dogs.

Collapsed bars and planks from the scaffolding covered the underground structure like a web. Rescue workers made their way through the 30m by 5m, and 15m-deep site by cutting metal bars with a blow torch.

At around 10.40am, a body was spotted trapped under fallen scaffolding and submerged in wet cement. It took workers an hour to extract the body. At noon, the death of one worker was confirmed.

Workers from the Public Utilities Board were also seen checking sewage pipes near the site, while police officers were spotted carrying a body tent, which is usually deployed in cases where deaths occurred.

Source: http://www.asiaone.com/Motoring/News/Story/A1Story20120718-359829.html

Worker knocked off cherry picker dies

Published in the Straits Times on Jun 11, 2012

By Jennani Durai

A Bangladeshi worker died in hospital on Friday, a day after the cherry picker he was in hit an overhead bridge, throwing him to the ground.

Mr Nazrul Ali, 29, suffered head injuries from the 4m fall, as the cherry picker was at the time extended to its full height.

He is believed to have been hanging advertising banners from lamp posts when the lorry on which the cherry picker was mounted attempted to pass under an overhead bridge along Cantonment Road, near the Pinnacle@Duxton.

Mr Nazrul died in the Singapore General Hospital.

Loud bangs then fire at Tuas incinerator

Source: AsiaOne
Sunday, May 06, 2012      

SINGAPORE - An incinerator at a waste management plant in Tuas caught fire early Sunday morning. According to witness statements, three loud bangs were heard before flames were sighted.
An eyewitness told the Straits Times that technicians on duty were transporting oil sludge into a funnel leading to the incinerator when they heard the three loud explosive bangs, followed by the flames.
The technicians then sounded the alarm and left the control room, which reportedly caught fire just seconds later.
The roof also partially collapsed, reported the English daily.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at around 12.50am at Eco SWM, in Tuas. Deploying three fire engines, SCDF officers put out the fire within 30 minutes of their arrival.
A SCDF spokesperson said that all 25 employees who were onsite when the incident happened are accounted for. No injuries have been reported.

Worker dies after fall in Yishun

By Mark Soh
The New Paper
Thursday, May 03, 2012

He heard a loud bang coming from his block in Yishun where lift upgrading was being carried out.
This was followed by frantic shouting and the sound of running feet.
A resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Sinniah, 90, rushed out of his flat and looked over the common corridor parapet.
To his horror, he saw the body of a Indian construction worker lying in a drain.
"I have never heard the sound of a body hitting the ground after a fall.
"I thought at first that some equipment had fallen off the platform," he said.
At about 4.10pm yesterday, a construction worker fell from the eighth-storey lift landing of Block 107, Yishun Ring Road.
The block had been undergoing lift upgrading by Kienta Engineering Construction.
"It was a chilling sound," said Mr Sinniah, who lives on the seventh storey of that block.
A spokesman for the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed receiving a call at 4.22pm and dispatched an ambulance.
Paramedics certified the man was dead and handed the case to the police.

MOM also present

Officers from MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate went to the site to investigate.
The worker had been assisting another construction worker who was operating welding equipment.
The MOM spokesman said he was reportedly retrieving an electrical cable hanging over the safety barricades at the side of the lift landing before he fell. The safety rails that straddled the platform fell with him.
When contacted, a police spokesmansaid they received a call at about 4.30pm. Upon arrival, they found the body of an Indian national in his 20s.
The case has been classified as unnatural death and investigations are ongoing.

A co-worker gave the dead man's name as Mr Dinoth Kumar. He said Mr Kumar, 24, had worked in Singapore for more than two years and had been with Kienta Engineering Construction for about eight months.
The co-worker said: "When he fell, he landed in a drain. The worker on the eighth storey who was using the welding machinery and another friend helped lift his body out of the drain."
He said that Mr Kumar had two younger brothers and elderly parents back in India.
MOM has instructed Kienta Engineering Construction to stop work at the accident scene.
When approached, a safety officer from the company declined to comment.
A resident known only as Madam Ros, 55, an odd-job worker who lives on the seventh storey, said: "I saw an ambulance arrive and paramedics rushing out.
"When I saw them return empty-handed without a stretcher or a body, I knew that he didn't make it."

This article was first published in The New Paper.

Worker Died After Falling Through Viewing Platform on Board Ship

Received by e-mail from WSH Council, dated 4 April 2012.

Recently, a worker was killed when he fell from a viewing platform on board a ship undergoing repair work. At the time of accident, he was tasked to oversee the movement of the ship from the dock. When he was walking on the viewing platform that was made of metal gratings, a section of the gratings gave way. He fell through the opening and landed on the deck about 7.8m below.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the bracket supporting the grating was corroded and gave way under his weight causing him to fall.

Schematic view of the scene of the accident

Recommendations*:

Industry stakeholders undertaking similar work activities are advised to consider the following to prevent a recurrence:

1. Conduct proper checks on all sections of the ship where workers are required to work safely;

2. Ensure safety inspections are carried out on the ship’s access and work platforms, railings, ladders and walkways, etc to ensure there are no corrosion or rusted parts before any work activities are allowed to be carried out;

3. Repair or replace corroded parts of the access and work platforms, railings, ladders and walkways, etc before allowing workers to access these areas;

4. Cordon off all unsafe work areas and put up “Danger - No Entry” signs;

5. Put up suitable safety signages at the work location to remind workers of the job hazards;

6. Supervise all work activities to ensure safe work practices are adhered to onsite.

For more information on Workplace Safety and Health, please refer to the following links below:

• Workplace Safety and Health Act (Chapter 354A), please click HERE
• Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations, please click HERE
• Code of Practice on WSH Risk Management, please click HERE

* Please note that the information provided is not exhaustive and is for the benefit of enhancing workplace safety and health so that a recurrence may be prevented. The information provided is not to be construed as implying any liability to any party nor should it be taken to encapsulate all the responsibilities and obligations of the reader of WSH Alert under the law.

Worker Struck by Excavator Bucket

In a recent incident that occured at night, a worker was killed after being struck by an excavator bucket.. The excavator was backfilling quarry dust to the voids at the sides of a newly constructed box culvert wall. The worker was standing near the piles of quarry dust when the bucket struck him. He passed away in hospital a few days later.

Photograph was taken after the piles of quarry dust had been removed

Recommendations*:

Stakeholders involved in similar work situations can undertake control measures such as the following to prevent recurrence:

1. During night work, workers should don personal protective equipment that increases visibility, such as reflective tape and vests, that can help improve their safety at work.

2. Prior to the start of any work, conduct an adequate risk assessment to identify all hazards and the risks involved. Control measures and safe work procedures must be established and implemented.

3. It is recommended that works that involve heavy machinery be carried out during the day, where visibility is better. This would eliminate or mitigate hazards associated with night work, for instance, reduced visibility, machine operator impairment or inattention, fatigue, lack of adequate lighting etc.

4. Ensure adequate illumination is provided when carrying out work. For more details, refer to SS 531:2008 Code of Practice for Lighting of Work Places.

5. Establish detailed method statements and safe work procedures that are specific to the tasks. The safe work procedures must be communicated to and understood by the workers carrying out the work and adhered to. It is important to detail out separate safe work procedures for day and night work, due to the significant difference in environmental conditions.

6. 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. Workers who were not involved in the work should not be allowed near areas where work is done using heavy machinery.

7. Supervise workers adequately to ensure assigned tasks are carried out in a safe manner. The responsibilities of supervisors include regular inspections to identify and manage hazards at the worksite. The supervisor should ensure that safe work procedures are adhered to.

For more information on Workplace Safety and Health, please refer to the following links below:

• Workplace Safety and Health Act (Chapter 354A), please click HERE
• Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations, please click HERE
• Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations, please click HERE
• Workplace Safety and Health (Construction) Regulations, please click HERE
• Code of Practice on WSH Risk Management, please click HERE
• CP 18 : 1992 Code of Practice for Earthworks, available from SPRING Singapore
• SS 531: 2008 Code of Practice for Lighting of Work Places, available from SPRING Singapore
• SS 562 : 2010 on Code of Practice for Safety in Trenches, Pits and Other Excavated Areas, available from SPRING Singapore

*Pls note the recommendations are not exhaustive.

Original Source: Received from WSH Council via e-mail.

Unsafe Conditions - Fall From Height Hazards

Single plank work platform

Floor opening not covered

Inappropriate material used to cover the floor opening 

Floor opening not covered

Bangladeshi worker killed after concrete slab falls on him

Source: AsiaOne Sunday, Mar 11, 2012

A Bangladeshi worker was killed at a Downtown MRT Line construction site near Botanic Gardens yesterday morning after a concrete slab fell on him.

The Straits Times reported that 35-year-old Masud Al Mamun was operating an excavator deep in the ground when the slab fell on him at the construction site along Evans Road, off Bukit Timah Road.

Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) rescuers had to use a breaking tool kit to break a portion of the concrete slab. It took them nearly five hours to reach the man lying motionless on the ground.
A 10-tonne jack and two airbags were used to stabilise the concrete slab before they could remove Mr Masud Al Mamun. He was pronounced dead at about 9am.

According to the English daily, Mr Masud Al Mamun was with another worker at the lowest level of the site, three to four storeys below ground, when the accident happened. They had been tasked to remove the concrete slab, which later fell on Mr Mamun. The other worker had managed to move away in time as he saw soil crumbling from above. He was not injured.

FIRE AT IOC OIL DEPOT, JAIPUR, INDIA ON 29 OCT.-2009

How it start?

• Thefirebrokeoutwhenpetrolwasbeingtransferredfromthedepottoapipelineandsoongotoutofcontrol.Aleakinthepipelineissuspectedtohavecausedtheblaze.InitialTimeline:29October-2009,Thursday(IST)
• 6.45PM: A leakage was detected in IOC depot in Jaipur.  For next 40 minutes, engineers tried to repair it.
• 7:30PM: The first container exploded, causing effect of equivalent to a mild quake measuring 2.3 on the Richter scale.
• 8:00PM: The fire became uncontrollable. Immediately all 12 tanks catch fire! These were floating roof tanks... the fire started from some leakage in pipeline.. the initial blast might have damaged the vapour seals of the tank thereby starting leakage at rim of tank and then the fire..

AlargertragedywasavertedastheLPGcylindersremainedsafe.

For more details , click here



2 construction workers killed in separate accidents

One of the construction workers is a Chinese, the other a Bangladeshi

Published in The Straits Times on Mar 1, 2012

A policeman at the scene of yesterday's accident at Suites@East Coast. Mr Jaydub Kobiraz, 36, was hacking at the base of an exposed section of a 2m-long concrete pile when it collapsed and struck him on his head. In a separate accident in Fort Road yesterday, a 21m-tall crane toppled, killing a Chinese national. -- ST PHOTO: NEO XIAOBIN

 

By Tham Yuen-C & Lee Xin En

 

Two construction workers were killed on Wednesday in separate worksite accidents.
The first, involving a 36-year-old Bangladeshi, happened at the Upper East Coast Road site for the upcoming Suites@East Coast condominium.
Mr Jaydub Kobiraz Nimoy Kobiraz was hacking at the base of an exposed section of a 2m-long concrete pile when it collapsed at about 9.30am and struck him on the back of his head, preliminary investigations by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) show.
Workers at the scene said that he fell forward, head first, and that his forehead was pierced by an iron rod, even though he was wearing a helmet. Two others who were working alongside him were unhurt.

Explosion injures 3 at Kranji Water Reclamation Plant

Published in the Straits Times on Feb 25, 2012

By Jennani Durai

 

An explosion occurred at PUB's Kranji Water Reclamation Plant late on Thursday night, injuring three workers. The men were working at an empty sludge storage tank when the explosion occurred at an adjacent tank at 11.30pm that night.

They were sent immediately to the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in Yishun. One of the workers was discharged on the same day and the other two - who sustained head and leg injuries respectively - are now in stable condition, said the PUB in a statement on Saturday.

There were other workers at the plant that day who were not affected by the blast, added a PUB spokesman.

Worker crushed to death in dough-mixing machine

Published in the Straits Times on Feb 20, 2012

The accident last Saturday night occurred at the Eng Bee Foodstuffs factory in Defu Lane.

First his foot got trapped. Then, the foreign worker who was cleaning a dough-mixing machine got folded in as it started churning, and he was crushed.

The 25-year-old Chinese national was pronounced dead at the scene at 11.13pm, less than 15 minutes after falling in. No one could say how exactly the accident occurred, but it is believed he had been cleaning the machine just before it happened.

Crane topples over at construction site, hits multi-storey carpark

Published on Jan 18, 2012 on The Straits Times (online)

 

The mobile crane hit the top level of a carpark, which was being upgraded, in Simei yesterday.

A mobile crane tipped over at a construction site in Simei on Tuesday, hitting the top level of a multi-storey carpark that was being upgraded.

The incident happened near Block 116, Simei Street 1 at around 6.30pm. No one was injured.
The crane operator, Mr Mohamad Noor, said he was hauling cement and concrete from the ground to the third level when the crane started to topple over.
The 57-year-old, who has 'a few years' of experience operating cranes, said the bucket may have been overloaded at the time.