69-year-old cleaner killed by reversing lorry at Hougang 1 mall; office fatalities exceed 2021 numbers

SINGAPORE: A 69-year-old cleaner was killed by a reversing lorry on Wednesday (Oct 5), bringing the variety of office fatalities in 2022 to 38.

This exceeds the 37 workplace deaths reported for the entire of final yr.

In an announcement launched on Friday, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) mentioned the deadly accident came about at Hougang 1 shopping center at 1 Hougang Avenue 91, at about 9.50am on Wednesday.

The cleaner was hit by a reversing lorry on the loading/unloading bay. The Singaporean man was then taken to Sengkang Common Hospital the place he succumbed to his accidents, mentioned MOM.

“As a normal security measure, drivers of reversing autos should be alert to pedestrians or different employees straying into their autos’ blind spots,” a ministry spokesperson mentioned.

“The place potential, they need to search assist to information them in reversing their autos.

Employees also needs to keep vigilant and maintain a correct lookout for any shifting autos whereas at work.”

MOM recognized the occupier of the location of the fatality as Serene Land and the cleaner’s employer as Avon Cleansing Companies.

Final month, in response to the string of office fatalities this yr, the ministry imposed a mandatory safety time-out for the primary time.

It has been conducting compliance checks from Oct 1, and has mentioned it should debar errant corporations from using new international staff for one month.

A six-month “heightened security” interval has additionally been launched, from Sep 1 until Feb 28, 2023.