NEA, 2 workers charged over Tuas Incineration Plant explosion that killed 2 men
The National Environment Agency (NEA) and two of its employees have been charged with workplace safety offences over a 2021 explosion at the Tuas Incineration Plant (TIP), which killed two men and injured one.
The charges, handed down on Dec 26, allege that NEA failed to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at work, contributing to the death of Mr Kwok Yeow Wai and Mr Wee Eng Leng.
The alleged failures of NEA also led to another employee, Mr Low Yin Choon, sustaining injuries.
Christopher Lee Yew Binn, 50, the divisional director of the waste infrastructure operations and management division of NEA at the time, and the then-general manager of the TIP Ng Wah Yong, 54, were also handed one charge each under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
The explosion at the plant in Tuas Avenue 20 happened on Sept 23, 2021, around 3.15pm. Mr Kwok, Mr Wee and Mr Low were carrying out electrical maintenance work inside an electrical switchgear room when the blast occurred.
The three men, aged between 59 and 65, were all Singaporean. One of them was pronounced dead at the scene. The other two had burn injuries and were taken to hospital, where one of them died three days later.
NEA had said after the incident that all of them were senior members of the plant’s electrical maintenance branch, each with more than 35 years in service.
According to charge sheets, NEA did not ensure that the permit-to-work system implemented for high voltage switchgear racking works complied with electrical installations regulations.
The agency also allegedly failed to adequately implement control measures and establish safe work procedures for high voltage switchgear racking works.
Ng was also charged with failing to ensure the permit-to-work system complied with regulations, among other acts of negligence. Lee was charged with approving the permit-to-work system though it did not comply with regulations.
Court documents state the two men’s acts negligently endangered the safety of others at TIP without reasonable cause.
The explosion had prompted labour MP Melvin Yong to call for a safety time-out, as he described an alarming rise in workplace accidents and deaths that year.
There were 37 work-related deaths in 2021, compared with 30 in 2020.
Mr Yong, the National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general, had urged all companies to work with labour unions to train safe management officers to become dedicated workplace safety and health representatives.
The case will be heard in court again on Feb 20, 2024.
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