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SINGAPORE: A foreign worker who had been working in Singapore for more than 10 years fell through a board at a workplace, fell 4.7m in the basement of Shaw Plaza, and later died from his injuries.
A coroner ruled on Thursday (December 3) the death of 30-year-old Indian citizen Ramakrishnan Ravichandran an unfortunate work-related accident, noting that the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is considering taking action against the deceased’s company and the occupant. of the building in Carretera Balestier.
Ravichandran had been cleaning dismantled electrical appliances in the building on November 14 of last year as part of his work with several other workers when he broke through a sheetrock covering the sides of an escalator.
Before this, workers dumped debris and dismantled electrical wiring from the second floor of the building to the first floor shaft.
The plasterboard, or drywall, was not intended to support a person’s weight, Coroner Prem Raj said. It was also covered with concrete dust from other works and could not be distinguished from concrete beams or other accessories.
Ravichandran fell 4.7m and landed on the basement floor. He was later taken to hospital, but resuscitation efforts failed, after suffering cardiac arrest, 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.
The court heard that that morning the security supervisor employed by Express 21 had conducted a security briefing, which included a reminder not to go to unsafe areas and to wear equipment such as helmets at all times.
Mr. Ravichandran was assigned along with two other men to do cleaning work, clean and cut electrical cables and remove electrical conduits.
They threw the debris from the second floor into the escalator shaft on the first floor, and then went into the shaft to clean up the items.
While the work was being carried out, one of the workers who was in the well clearing the debris heard “a loud noise like that of a wooden board breaking.” He looked up and saw a hole in the well and alerted the rest that Mr. Ravichandran had fallen.
They went to the basement and saw the immobile body of Mr. Ravichandran lying face down on the floor. He was later taken to the hospital without responding and without a pulse, and was pronounced dead that morning.
The Indian High Commissioner and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were notified of the disappearance that same day, and MOM carried out investigations.
The investigation revealed that the shaft on Level 1 had previously housed the escalator and its motor, but these were removed in late October 2019. To prevent workers from falling into the shaft, the building occupant installed barricades, but one person unidentified then removed the front barricade and replaced it with just a net.
Mr. Ravichandran had likely removed the net to access the well and remove electrical accessories, the coroner said.
Four plasterboards, which are used as partitions and wall coverings and the like, but cannot support the weight of a person, filled a void to the right of the well. The boards were separated from the shaft by a concrete beam.
However, due to previous hacking and demolition near the well, the area was covered with a layer of concrete dust so that the concrete beam and boards looked the same.
When Mr. Ravichandran stepped on one of the boards at the side of the well, it broke and landed on the basement floor in six pieces that were found along with his helmet.
REVIEW THE RESULTS
A review of his work hours in the three months before his death did not find that he worked excessively, and he was normal during the meeting prior to the start of the works, ruling out work fatigue as a contributor to the fall.
A review found that no one knew about the presence of the boards and the hazards they posed, and Express 21 had not established safe work practices for cleaning jobs.
MOM found that such fragile surfaces are commonly found in such workplaces and falling through them is considered a foreseeable hazard.
The ministry is currently considering taking action against Express 21 and the building’s occupant under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
The coroner reiterated two points made by the Workplace Safety and Health Council in an accident bulletin issued after Ravichandran’s death.
Floor openings should be safely covered whenever possible with concrete slabs or metal grates. If fragile surfaces such as plasterboard are unavoidable, areas should be marked with clear, demarcated markings to prevent workers from entering the danger zone and stepping on any of the surfaces.
The coroner added that there should be proper communication before starting work, in the form of a pre-job briefing that highlights the hazards of the site and how to perform the job safely.
He expressed his deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Ravichandran, who were unable to attend the hearing, for his tragic loss.
