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Worker who died of heatstroke: Boss fined
___________She had no steps to help man from north China get used to hot weather
CONSTRUCTION worker Tian Wei, 38, came here last year from Liaoning province in north-east China.
Barely days into his job at a precast yard, he died, a victim of heatstroke.
The temperature in his village rarely went higher than 11 deg C, and he could not adjust to an environment that was nearly three times hotter.
He collapsed at 3.20pm on April 29 last year, after working for five hours - aside from lunch hour and a 15-minute break - at a work site in Kranji.
Yesterday, his employer Cheang Heong Lan, 55, the sole proprietor of Chin Tong Trading Construction, was fined $20,000 for not having an acclimatisation programme for Mr Tian.
In an e-mail yesterday, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that she is the first employer fined under the Workplace Safety and Health Act for failing to take measures to ensure workplace safety and health, contributing to the death of a worker by heatstroke.
The court heard that Mr Tian was employed by Cheang through an employment agency. He arrived here on April 23, had his medical checkup that very day, and was certified fit to work.
Cheang's company had been engaged by G&W Precast to fabricate precast components at a worksite in Kranji Loop.
On the second day at work, he collapsed. He died of heatstroke four days later, on April 29.
Mr Tian was not made to do heavy work prior to his collapse, and he followed G&W's safety measures.
These allowed workers to take short breaks to grab a drink at nearby water points and two 15-minute tea breaks, one at 10am and another at 3pm.
But MOM prosecutor Jimmy Khoo told the court these measures were inadequate to allow Mr Tian to adapt to Singapore's weather.
Asking for leniency, defence counsel Leslie Yeo said the worksite had several water points.
He said Mr Tian, a farmer in Liaoning, was not required to do any strenuous work but was to observe other workers and help them.
Cheang could have been fined up to $200,000 and/or jailed for up to two years.
Singapore's safety and health commissioner Ho Siong Hin said employers should be aware and more mindful of the effects of heat exhaustion on workers, especially those used to a colder climate .
Construction firms contacted by The Straits Times said most of their foreign workers have about a week to get used to Singapore's warmer weather.
New hires at Gammon Construction, for instance, undergo medical checkups, safety and tradesman courses, and settle into their dormitories during that time, said the contractor's senior safety manager, Mr Yeo Kim Seng.
___________She had no steps to help man from north China get used to hot weather
CONSTRUCTION worker Tian Wei, 38, came here last year from Liaoning province in north-east China.
Barely days into his job at a precast yard, he died, a victim of heatstroke.
The temperature in his village rarely went higher than 11 deg C, and he could not adjust to an environment that was nearly three times hotter.
He collapsed at 3.20pm on April 29 last year, after working for five hours - aside from lunch hour and a 15-minute break - at a work site in Kranji.
Yesterday, his employer Cheang Heong Lan, 55, the sole proprietor of Chin Tong Trading Construction, was fined $20,000 for not having an acclimatisation programme for Mr Tian.
In an e-mail yesterday, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that she is the first employer fined under the Workplace Safety and Health Act for failing to take measures to ensure workplace safety and health, contributing to the death of a worker by heatstroke.
The court heard that Mr Tian was employed by Cheang through an employment agency. He arrived here on April 23, had his medical checkup that very day, and was certified fit to work.
Cheang's company had been engaged by G&W Precast to fabricate precast components at a worksite in Kranji Loop.
On the second day at work, he collapsed. He died of heatstroke four days later, on April 29.
Mr Tian was not made to do heavy work prior to his collapse, and he followed G&W's safety measures.
These allowed workers to take short breaks to grab a drink at nearby water points and two 15-minute tea breaks, one at 10am and another at 3pm.
But MOM prosecutor Jimmy Khoo told the court these measures were inadequate to allow Mr Tian to adapt to Singapore's weather.
Asking for leniency, defence counsel Leslie Yeo said the worksite had several water points.
He said Mr Tian, a farmer in Liaoning, was not required to do any strenuous work but was to observe other workers and help them.
Cheang could have been fined up to $200,000 and/or jailed for up to two years.
Singapore's safety and health commissioner Ho Siong Hin said employers should be aware and more mindful of the effects of heat exhaustion on workers, especially those used to a colder climate .
Construction firms contacted by The Straits Times said most of their foreign workers have about a week to get used to Singapore's warmer weather.
New hires at Gammon Construction, for instance, undergo medical checkups, safety and tradesman courses, and settle into their dormitories during that time, said the contractor's senior safety manager, Mr Yeo Kim Seng.
