Foreign worker fell 4.7m through board to his death

The deceased worker had been clearing dismantled electrical fixtures in the building on Nov 14, 2019 as part of his work with several other workers when he stepped through a gypsum board covering the sides of an escalator pit.

Before this, workers had been throwing debris and dismantled electrical wiring from the second floor of the building into the pit on the first floor.

The gypsum board, or drywall, was not meant to hold a person's weight. It was also covered with concrete dust from other works and could not be distinguished from the concrete beams or other fixtures.

The deceased fell 4.7m and landed on the floor of the basement. He was later taken to hospital but resuscitation efforts failed, after he suffered cardiac arrests, and he was pronounced dead that morning.

An autopsy found that he had died from multiple injuries including fractures of the skull, ribs and sternum, or chest bone.

A safety briefing had been held that morning by the safety supervisor, which included a reminder not to go to unsafe areas and to wear equipment such as helmets at all times. 

The deceased worker was assigned along with two other men to do housekeeping works, clearing and cutting electrical wire and removing electrical trunking. They tossed the debris from the second floor into the escalator pit at the first floor, and later went into the pit to clear the items. While work was ongoing, one of the workers who was in the pit clearing the debris heard a loud noise. He looked up and saw a hole in the pit and alerted the rest that a worker had fallen down.

He was later taken to hospital unresponsive and without a pulse, and was pronounced dead later that morning.

(This article was adapted from the news article from CNA

Some learning points (my views):

1. Floor opening was not properly barricade, and the opening on the floor was not properly covered up. Generally, a one-inch thick plywood should be used to board up any opening on the floor.

2. Safety briefing was conducted, but sometimes it may not be relevant to the job on hand. Also, to use generic term like watch out for unsafe conditions may not be meaningful. Better to go into specifics. 

3. For control measures, should put more emphasis on engineering control,  e.g. a strong barricade, rather than administrative controls, such as briefings. 

For more reported accident cases, visit CNA page here

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

WSH Alert – Workers Fell together with a Cherry Picker Basket

Incident

Two workers fell to their death while they were on a mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) to carry out abrasive blasting work on a vessel. They were in the basket of the MEWP (a cherry picker) about 25m from the ground, when the MEWP’s extended boom suddenly buckled. The basket, together with the two workers, dropped towards the ground and hit a keel block on the ground.

Source: WSH Council (e-mail)

WSH Alert – Worker Fell from Platform at Concrete Batching Plant

Incident
A worker was tasked to hack and remove hardened concrete within the discharge hopper of a concrete mixing equipment. The equipment was located about 7 metres above ground with a work platform surrounding it. At about 12.20p.m., he was found dead on the ground directly below an uncovered opening on the platform. The metal grating for the platform’s opening was found removed.

Source: WSH Council (e-mail)

Worker Fell from Mezzanine Floor

WSH Alert - 26 May 2010

Incident

In this incident, a worker was found dead on the ground beside the staircase of a factory. He was alone in the premises when the incident happened. A stool was found at the mid landing of the staircase. It is suspected that the worker might have tried to access a resting area on the mezzanine floor by using the stool to climb over the handrail of the staircase. He could then have fallen from the open side of the unbarricaded mezzanine floor and landed on the ground 3m below.

Recommendations*

1. Provide safe means of access or egress: The Workplace and Safety Health Act (WSHA) stipulates that the occupier has to take reasonably practicable measures to ensure that the workplace and all means of access to or egress from the workplace are safe. For this incident, there was no safe and proper access to the mezzanine floor, except by climbing over the staircase.

2. Conduct risk assessment: Proper risk assessments should be conducted to identify all potential hazards and risks. Appropriate actions must be taken to eliminate the hazards or to mitigate the risks. Some of the hazards relevant to this case include:

1. Lack of proper and safe means of access to the resting area;
2. Lack of proper and safe means of access to the stored materials (e.g. the veneer and wooden planks) at the mezzanine floor beside the resting area;
3. Lack of proper handhold and barricade at the mezzanine level; and
4. Improper storage of materials which could lead to them toppling.

3. Provide and maintain safe arrangements and facilities: Employers are also required under the WSHA to take reasonably practicable measures to protect the safety and health of employees. This includes maintaining the facilities and providing safe arrangements to ensure their welfare at work. In this incident, such measures could include:

1. Ensuring that the workers’ resting areas are adequate, safe and without risk (e.g. properly barricaded); and
2. Ensuring that workers are not exposed to hazards from the storage of materials beside the resting area.

4. Establish safe work procedures: Appropriate control measures and safe work procedures, such as on accessing and moving materials from the storage area, must be properly established, communicated and implemented to ensure the safety and health of the workers involved.

5. Proper storage of goods: All goods, articles and substances in a workplace should be properly stored, stack or placed:

• in such as manner as not to obstruct the use of passageways;
• on a firm foundation not liable to settle;
• in such manner as not to overload the foundation or floors;
• using appropriate supporting structures to ensure their stability; and
• not against a wall or partition unless they are of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure.

Bound materials should also be placed on racks, and secured by stacking, blocking, or interlocking to prevent them from sliding, falling, or collapsing.

Further Information

1. Workplace Safety and Health Act (Chapter 354A)
2. Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) Regulations
3. Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management) Regulations
4. OSHA’s guide on Materials Handling and Storing, please click HERE.

* Please note that the information provided is intended to enhance workplace safety and health so that a similar recurrence may be prevented, and is not exhaustive. The information provided should 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.