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)

Simple Work Killed Three Workers

Source: WSH Alert dated 19 Dec 2008

Within a week in December, three workers were killed in workplace related incidents. Preliminary investigations revealed that all the workers were performing simple tasks that could have been done safely with the right procedures and proper supervision. Both were lacking in all three incidents.

Case 1 – Worker died while topping up battery water

On the day of the incident, a 19-year-old worker was carrying out the simple task of topping up the battery water for a stacker truck in a warehouse. He was standing on the driver stand platform when it suddenly lifted upwards. The worker’s neck was caught between the driver control panel and a horizontal bar which was attached to the stacker’s hoist frame. He was pronounced dead on the spot.

Case 2 – Worker fell 41m to his death while dismantling a scaffold
A 44-year-old construction worker was dismantling a metal scaffold with two other co-workers. During the process, he stood on a metal decking outside a window opening at the staircase landing area between the 19th and 18th storey without any fall protection. He was manually lowering the dismantled scaffold decking using a rope.
During the lowering process, the decking was obstructed and the worker tried to free it by swinging the rope. While doing so, he lost his balance and fell 41m to his death.

Case 3 – Worker fell into elevator shaft while removing a torn plastic sheet
A 26-year-old worker was replacing a plastic sheet covering a cable trunk opening onboard an oil rig. He was with two other co-workers. The cable trunk opening was located next to an elevator shaft which had barricades along the entire area as a form of fall protection.
While in the process of removing the plastic sheet, the worker fell into the elevator shaft opening, landing 38.5m below on the pontoon deck. The worker was sent to the hospital and pronounced dead on the same day.

Preliminary investigations suggest that he had either leaned too much over the barricades or had climbed over the barricades into the work area.

More efforts needed to raise supervision level and put safe work procedures in place
All three accidents could have been easily prevented with the right procedures and proper supervision in place. In all three cases, the individuals had poor work practices and had exposed themselves to unnecessary risks. Individuals must understand the need to assess the risks involved with their assigned tasks and not to take shortcuts.
With respect to the level of supervision for these cases, it should be further improved. Workers should not be left to figure what is the best way to carry out the work safely. They must be instructed on how they can follow these procedures. They must also be reminded not to take unnecessary risks or shortcuts when doing their job. Proper supervision must also be provided especially when the tasks are new and the workers are unfamiliar with the procedures. With proper supervision, bad work behaviours can be observed so that it could be immediately corrected.
Employers too have the responsibility to ensure that all work are safely conducted. They should have a proper understanding of the risks involved in the conduct of their business and provide the necessary resources in the management of the work that is to be performed.