Man jailed for modifying accident site
By Shaffiq Alkhatib | Posted: 04 January 2011 2148 hrs
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SINGAPORE: A site safety supervisor of a construction firm on Tuesday became the first in Singapore to be jailed for modifying the scene of a fatal accident involving one of his workers.
Fifty-year-old Yeo Kok Chye from Beng Soon Machinery Services had planted a safety harness beside the body of 24-year-old Arumugam Karuppaiya to deceive the authorities into thinking that the Indian national was wearing it prior to the accident.
Mr Arumugam plunged seven storeys to his death at a worksite at Block 9 Upper Boon Keng Road at around 5.15pm on June 6, 2007.
Yeo, who pleaded guilty to his offences on November 30 last year, was sent to prison for two weeks and also fined S$15,000 for failing to promote safety measures at the site.
He did not conduct any safety inspection on the hacking works conducted there.
He was also unaware of the measures the workers had to take to prevent falling from height during and after hacking works to the floors of the building to be demolished.
Beng Soon Machinery Services was fined a total of S$85,000 for safety-related offences.
It also had failed to implement adequate fall prevention measures for its workers.
The company also did not provide measures to protect its employees from getting hit by falling debris.
It could have been fined a maximum of half a million dollars for implementing inadequate fall prevention measures for its employees.
-CNA/wk
