04:45 AM Dec 09, 2011
SINGAPORE - A director of a cleaning
company, Tay Kah Heng, was fined S$50,000 for his negligence in acquiring a
correct understanding of materials to be used during a chemical cleaning
process.
It resulted in an accident that claimed four lives and injured one worker in 2009.
The company, Chemic Industries, was also fined S$100,000 for contravening provisions under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
Tay was also fined an additional S$4,000 because one of the deceased workers did not have a valid work permit. The work permit was for him to work as a construction worker for another company.
On Feb 27, 2009, 30 minutes after the workers started using nitric acid to clean two heat exchangers, a white substance gushed out and brown fumes were released.
Five workers engaged by Chemic to carry out the cleaning of the exchangers came into contact with the white substance and were taken to the hospital.
Four of them succumbed to their injuries, while the remaining worker survived, with chemical burns to various parts of his limbs.
The Ministry of Manpower's investigations revealed that the accident was a result of the chemical reaction between the nitric acid and the residual polymer inside the heat exchanger. Gases and pressure were produced inside the exchanger, causing the white substance to gush out.
The two exchangers had gone through an earlier round of water cleaning with another contractor, Alfa Laval Singapore, which provided a Material Safety Data Sheet to indicate that strong reactions may occur when residual solution comes into contact with oxidising agents such as nitric acid.
Despite Tay conducting a test on the efficacy of the chemicals in an open environment, prior to the commencement of work, the Manpower Ministry said his negligence in acquiring a correct understanding of the Data Sheet posed a high risk to the workers.
The Data Sheet had also required workers to wear protective gear during the chemical cleaning process, which Tay had failed to provide to his workers. Channel NewsAsia
It resulted in an accident that claimed four lives and injured one worker in 2009.
The company, Chemic Industries, was also fined S$100,000 for contravening provisions under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
Tay was also fined an additional S$4,000 because one of the deceased workers did not have a valid work permit. The work permit was for him to work as a construction worker for another company.
On Feb 27, 2009, 30 minutes after the workers started using nitric acid to clean two heat exchangers, a white substance gushed out and brown fumes were released.
Five workers engaged by Chemic to carry out the cleaning of the exchangers came into contact with the white substance and were taken to the hospital.
Four of them succumbed to their injuries, while the remaining worker survived, with chemical burns to various parts of his limbs.
The Ministry of Manpower's investigations revealed that the accident was a result of the chemical reaction between the nitric acid and the residual polymer inside the heat exchanger. Gases and pressure were produced inside the exchanger, causing the white substance to gush out.
The two exchangers had gone through an earlier round of water cleaning with another contractor, Alfa Laval Singapore, which provided a Material Safety Data Sheet to indicate that strong reactions may occur when residual solution comes into contact with oxidising agents such as nitric acid.
Despite Tay conducting a test on the efficacy of the chemicals in an open environment, prior to the commencement of work, the Manpower Ministry said his negligence in acquiring a correct understanding of the Data Sheet posed a high risk to the workers.
The Data Sheet had also required workers to wear protective gear during the chemical cleaning process, which Tay had failed to provide to his workers. Channel NewsAsia
Source: TodayOnline
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