15.07.2022
Fatal crushing incident
A man lost his life on while working while working alongside a mobile crane on a construction site in Singapore on June 22nd.
The man, 32, was in the process of retrieving two shackles from a tool box located on deck at the rear of the crane’s chassis. He was in the process of opening the lid to the box, when the crane operator slewed the crane superstructure clockwise, causing the counterweight to strike him from behind, creating a scissor effect which crushed him between the counterweight and the chassis.
He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries, either on route or shortly after arrival at the hospital.
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A view from the investigation – courtesy Safety Watch- SG
The man was employed by Hwa Yang Engineering as a fully trained rigger and signaller, the company was working for the main contractor for the site - China Construction (South Pacific) Development. The site is home to the Home Team Tactical Centre, which houses training facilities for specialist units such as the Singapore Police and Civil Defence Forces.
China Construction Development is already on MOM’s Business Under Surveillance programme, designed to help companies with a poor workplace safety record raise their standards. The move follows another fatality on one of its sites in the city earlier this year, when the forklift he was driving overturned, killing the operator, 49.
It seems that Singapore has experienced 27 work place fatalities in the first half of this year, compared to 37 for the whole of last year
Sherm
If walk-in talkie radios were in use the man’s life might have been spared.
HLsup.
Very sad news.
Must have been terrible for the family when they heard this news but also for the crane operator. The advice I always give to riggers is to make (eye) contact with the crane operator before getting rigging gear or whatever on the crane.