SINGAPORE — A construction worker died in the early hours of Jan 4 after he fell about 7.5m while at a work site for the upcoming Jurong Region Line (JRL), the first reported fatal workplace accident of 2024.
The 27-year-old from Myanmar fell over the edge of an unfinished platform that he was installing at about 2.30am.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the accident took place near Jurong West Street 75, where the future and tentatively named Gek Poh JRL MRT station will be located.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force received a call for assistance at Block 749 Jurong West Street 73, which is next to Jurong West Street 75.
The worker, who was employed by Jiangxi Construction Development, was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
MOM is investigating the incident, and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the project's developer, is assisting with the probe.
"We share our deepest condolences with the family of the deceased worker and are working with our contractors to provide them with support and assistance," said an LTA spokeswoman, adding that it takes a serious view of such safety incidents.
CES_SDC, a subsidiary of construction and real estate conglomerate Chip Eng Seng Corp, is the occupier of the Jurong West Street 75 work site and the project's main contractor.
It was awarded a $226.6 million contract in 2020 by LTA to design and construct the JRL stations in Gek Poh and Tawas, as well as two viaducts totalling 1.3km, one running along Jurong West Street 75 and the other running between the two stations.
Following the fatal accident on Jan 4, work at the Jurong West Street 75 construction site was stopped.
At the same time, a safety timeout was imposed on all LTA work sites, which means construction work must be suspended temporarily so that safety procedures can be reviewed, and a list of activities like conducting meetings with workers to recap site safety is completed. The safety timeout is still ongoing.
MOM said that as a general safety measure, workers should be equipped with safety harnesses and secured to anchor points at all times when there is a risk of falling from a height.
The accident on Jan 4 is the second time a worker has died at an LTA work site in the past two months, and the second worker death linked to the construction of the JRL.
Work on the first phase of Singapore's seventh MRT line, which includes the stations in Gek Poh and Tawas, is expected to be completed in 2027, a year later than originally scheduled due to delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
When fully opened in 2029, the 24km-long above-ground rail line will have 24 stations — extending the reach of the MRT network to the Jurong area.
Daily ridership is expected to grow from 200,000 in the initial years to more than 500,000, along with the development of the Jurong Innovation District, Tengah town and Jurong Lake District.
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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.