Dying of technician crushed by bus he was repairing was avoidable, says coroner

SINGAPORE: The loss of life of a technician who was crushed by a bus he was repairing may have been averted if the proper gear had been used, a coroner stated in findings made out there this week.

Malaysian Skinny Quickly Fatt, 43, died in hospital on Jun 6 final yr of head accidents after the bus he was repairing dropped and hit his head, inflicting cranium fractures.

State Coroner Adam Nakhoda discovered Mr Skinny’s loss of life a work-related misadventure.

Mr Skinny had been employed as a technician by Strides Automotive Providers, earlier named SMRT Automotive Providers, since March 2014.

He was the workforce chief concerned within the upkeep of 26 buses and different electrical buggies utilized by SMRT.

On Jun 6, 2021, Mr Skinny and two different technicians have been at Ang Mo Kio bus depot finishing up corrective upkeep on a bus that had a free steering wheel.

One of many technicians, Mr Tan Kaek Seng, went underneath the bus to examine on the steering knuckle arm whereas Mr Skinny manipulated the steering wheel. They confirmed there was a difficulty with the steering knuckle and that corrective upkeep needed to be carried out.

Mr Tan needed to retrieve some air-jacks and axle stands to carry and prop up the bus, however Mr Skinny instructed him there was no want to make use of the air-jacks and axle stands. He recommended utilizing two different moveable scissor jacks – a Kawasaki jack and a Nissan jack – as a substitute.

Mr Skinny then went underneath the bus and positioned the scissor jacks in place. Mr Tan retrieved some instruments wanted for the upkeep and requested Mr Skinny if he ought to get the axle stands to help the bus, however Mr Skinny stated it was not obligatory.

Mr Tan went underneath the bus and accomplished the repairs by putting in a brand new half. He greased the half and instructed the remainder of the workforce that he was accomplished.

Mr Skinny started decreasing the scissor jacks. Instantly, the 7.5-ton bus dropped onto Mr Tan and Mr Skinny, who have been underneath the bus.

Mr Skinny was struck on the top by the chassis of the bus, whereas Mr Tan was pinned down by a protruding a part of the undercarriage. Mr Tan managed to extricate himself from the undercarriage with some assist, whereas others pulled Mr Skinny out from the bus and carried out cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him.

Each males have been taken to hospital however Mr Skinny couldn’t be revived.

Investigations confirmed that the scissor jacks had stickers on them with symbols indicating that folks weren’t allowed to work underneath the automobile when the automobile was lifted by the jack. The Kawasaki jack and Nissan Jack had protected working load limits of 1.1 tons and 0.95 tons respectively.

The scissor jacks weren’t included within the authorised listing of instruments by Strides and have been overloaded when the entrance portion of the bus was lifted on them.

The coroner stated that if the air-jack and axle stands had been used, the incident would have been averted because the axle stands would have been capable of help the load of the bus with out failing.

“This was an avoidable accident. Had the proper gear, that’s, the air-jack and axle stands been used, the accident would have been prevented,” stated the coroner.

“As such, I’d advocate that firms and companies concerned within the restore of heavy automobiles, make sure that technicians and staff use the proper gear when finishing up repairs.”