Singaporean dies after being struck by boat propeller; 31st workplace death this year
A 55-year-old Singaporean worker died on July 20 after he fell off a boat and was struck by its propeller at the Police Coast Guard (PCG) headquarters in Pulau Brani.
This takes the number of workplace deaths in the first seven months of the year to 31. There were 30 workplace deaths recorded in the whole of 2020 and 37 last year.
The latest fatality was revealed by Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council chairman John Ng on Wednesday (July 27) during a speech at the annual WSH Awards, which was held this year at Resorts World Sentosa.
In response to queries, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said the accident took place at about 11am at 11 Brani Way - the address of PCG's Brani Base.
The worker, employed by consultancy services and training firm Citadelle, was alone on the boat at the time, MOM said.
The police said they were alerted to the accident at about 11.20am, and the worker was pronounced dead at the scene by a Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedic.
Based on preliminary investigations, the police said no foul play is suspected.
Investigations by the authorities are ongoing.
The Straits Times understands the worker who died was a trainer.
MOM has asked Citadelle to stop all of its training activities.
Said MOM: "As a general safety measure, boat operators must be familiar with and adhere to safety precautionary measures when operating marine craft. These include the use of a safety kill-switch to shut off the motor should the operator fall overboard."
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