In a series of surprise inspections by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) focusing on crane safety, 61 companies were fined and two construction sites ordered to stop work.
Under Operation Skylark, 90 worksites in the construction and manufacturing sectors were inspected between July 15 and Sep 30. These were sites which either belonged to companies which had previous crane-related accidents, or had a large number of cranes.
Across 67 of those sites, 189 lapses were found. The most common problem was a failure to keep cranes in good working condition, with inspectors finding corroded ropes, damaged safety latches on crane hooks, and faulty safety devices. In all, 107 fines totalling $56,750 and 82 warnings were meted out.
Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower and Education Hawazi Daipi revealed these results on Tuesday, at the third annual Crane Safety Symposium. There have been three crane-related workplace deaths and 12 crane-related dangerous incidents this year.
collapsed crane on a construction site opposite 28 Defu Lane 10 on Oct 8 2013. In a series of surprise inspections by the Manpower Ministry focusing on crane safety, 61 companies were fined and two construction sites ordered to stop work. — ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
