[ad_1]
SINGAPORE – Underwater World Singapore (UWS) was fined $ 105,000 on Tuesday (March 23) for security failures investigators found after a stingray fatally stings one of its divers in 2016.
Among other things, the now-defunct Sentosa attraction had failed to provide proper emergency recovery procedures during dive operations.
Nor had it implemented a system to document the checks of diving equipment before use.
UWS, which was owned by Haw Par Leisure and ceased operations in June 2016, had been convicted of a crime under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
UWS admitted in district court in January that it had failed to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of its workers.
However, the court heard that the lapses had not resulted in the death of Mr. Chan Kum Weng.
The 62-year-old had worked for UWS for 25 years.
The attraction had appointed him to plan and execute the capture of marine animals before and after it closed.
Chan and his colleagues were trying to catch a leopard stingray around 2.30pm on October 4, 2016, when it suddenly attacked him.
A poisonous barb on its tail pierced its chest. He was taken to Singapore General Hospital, where he died at around 3.30pm that day. The cause was a “penetrating wound to the chest from a stingray barb.”
On March 1, 2017, then-State Coroner Marvin Bay deemed Chan’s death a tragic disgrace.
Following the tragedy, investigations revealed that UWS failed to document safe working procedures for the capture of marine animals.
The prosecutor of the Ministry of Human Resources, Mohd Rizal, had previously said: “This activity was mainly carried out by (Mr. Chan) and he would plan and execute the capture works, which included information on the capture methods that he had devised, the required labor allocation, the necessary equipment and the foreseeable risks and precautions to be taken during capture.
“Investigations further revealed that no standby diver was designated in the event of an emergency … If a diver were to encounter an emergency situation, such as loss of consciousness, the fellow diver would not pick him up immediately, as he would not there was line of sight or any form of lifeline provided. “
For committing the crime, UWS could have been fined up to $ 500,000.
[ad_2]
