Moonlighting Gain City employee hospitalised after fall
A man sustained multiple fractures after he fell from the third floor of an industrial building on July 27 while carrying out an air-conditioner servicing job without wearing a harness.
Pictures and a video seen by The Straits Times show a man lying on his side on the floor, with a pool of red liquid near him. Clad in a Gain City top, he is seen moving in the video and is attended to by three paramedics.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it was alerted to the incident at 30 Kaki Bukit Road 3 at about 6.40pm that day.
In a statement sent to ST on Aug 1, Gain City confirmed that the man is one of its employees. The Chinese national, who is in his late thirties, is a driver with the company and was admitted to Changi General Hospital. The man has been transferred out of the intensive care unit and is currently in a stable condition.
When contacted, a Ministry of Manpower spokesperson said the man was doing maintenance work on an air-conditioning unit on the facade of the building’s third floor when the incident happened. He was standing on a piece of the air-conditioner ledge’s metal grating, and fell when it gave way.
The ministry added that the occupier of the unit was Yi Xiang Renovation, which had hired the man directly instead of going through his employer. Gain City said in its statement that the man was performing the job alone and outside his working hours without its knowledge.
According to Gain City, the man did not use a safety harness, which is against the company’s safety protocol, and there was personal protective equipment – including a harness – in the vehicle the man had driven to the industrial building.
“As a general safety measure, workers must be provided with a personal fall-arrest system, comprising a full-body harness. Workers must also be secured to suitable anchor points when working at areas with fall-from-height risks,” the MOM spokesperson said, adding that the ministry is investigating the incident.
Gain City said, without giving further details, that the man’s wife had arrived in Singapore on July 30 with its help, and the company will make sure that he receives the necessary medical care and assistance.
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