Prime Mover Driver Narrowly Avoided Death as Container Stacker Crashed on Where He Had Seated

By
Isaac Goh
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I’m under a lot of pressure. 

Have people ever told you this before?

Oftentimes it refers to them facing a lot of stress. However, for one unfortunate driver, the saying is literally true. 

Prime Mover Driver Crushed by Container Stacker

At a Tuas worksite, a container stacker has toppled onto a prime mover, crushing the cabin where the driver was in.

As the stacker fell down, he jumped to the passenger seat as he watched the cabin above the driver’s seat crumple down. 

Fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries. 

Talk about a close call. 

The incident happened at around 12:40pm last Saturday (19 November) at 15A Tuas South Avenue 12.

The driver, an Indian national in his mid-30s, lost consciousness in the accident and was pulled out of the vehicle by another driver. He was then taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was given four days of medical leave. 

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has announced that the ministry is investigating the workplace accident.

Unfolding of Events

The MOM spokesperson said: “A container stacker was lifting two containers when it suddenly tilted, causing it to topple onto a prime mover within the same vicinity.”

A spokesman for the driver’s employer, Wendy Transport Enterprise Company, said that the driver had been offloading a container when the incident occurred.

“According to the statement, when the driver saw the container stacker about to topple, he jumped to the passenger seat of the prime mover, lay there and lost consciousness.

“Another driver then pulled him out and a yard manager sent him for a medical check-up,” the spokesman said. 

On Sunday, a video showing the aftermath of the incident was posted on Facebook on the Singapore Incidents page. It shows the green prime mover’s cabin being crushed by the stacker as well as several containers that had toppled over. 

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Course of Action

The MOM has instructed the worksite’s occupier, Pacific Trans, to stop using container stackers at the premises. 

On 1 September, MOM introduced the six-month heightened safety period. Companies, if found to have unsafe work conditions or poor risk controls, can be barred from hiring foreign workers.

MOM has also announced in September that fatal vehicular incidents have increased over the last 1.5 years.

In September, companies in the construction, manufacturing, marine, process and transport and storage industries, along with industries that use heavy or industrial vehicles such as lorries and forklifts, were required to review their safety procedures. It was also the first time that it was compulsory to do so. 

Simply put, the government is placing more pressure on these companies to keep the workers safe. 

Why?

There has been a surge in work-related deaths in 2022. As at 17 October, there were 40 fatalities already. Comparatively, the whole of 2021 had 37. 

Hopefully, that number doesn’t continue to climb.

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Featured Image: Singapore Incidents / Facebook

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Isaac Goh
Email: [email protected]