The accident occurred while Chong Kee Ling was operating a mobile crane. He was trying to hoist buckets of cement-mix that would be used to cast a Civil Defence (CD) shelter for a semi-detached house that was under construction. A group of workers were standing on the formwork of the CD-shelter while they waited for the bucket of concrete-mix to be hoisted to them. The crane suddenly tilted forward and the bucket of concrete-mix swung and hit a worker. The worker fell about 3m to the ground and was killed on the spot.

Investigations carried out by the Occupational Safety Department revealed that at the time of the accident, the left wheels of the mobile crane were not lifted off the ground completely even though the crane's outriggers were fully extended. This meant that the stability of the crane had been compromised. For the crane to be operated in a stable manner under such conditions (i.e. when using the outriggers), it must be supported by only the outriggers and the wheels must be lifted completely off the ground.

It was also revealed that the safe working load of the crane at the operating configuration chosen by the operator was 1,250kg. This was insufficient and the crane was overloaded.

Shortly before the accident occurred, the overload indicator alarm of the crane sounded. However, instead of rectifying the overloaded mode, Chong Kee Ling continued to hoist the bucket in the overloaded condition. He had earlier lifted about 11 buckets of cement-mix in a similar manner while the warning alarm was blaring.

The Ministry had suspended Chong Kee Ling from operating cranes soon after investigations revealed that the accident was the result of his unsafe act. His registration as a crane operator with the Ministry has also been revoked following his conviction in Court.

The Ministry would like to remind all crane operators and personnel in charge of lifting operations, of the importance of properly setting up a crane to ensure its safe operation. In particular, the Ministry would like to emphasize that all the wheels of a mobile crane must lifted completely off the ground when the outriggers are extended. This is a basic requirement in crane operation as it affects the stability and lifting capacity of the crane. This is also a mandatory requirement under the law.

Crane operators must not overload a crane under any circumstance. Once the overload indicator is activated, the lifting operation must stop immediately. The Ministry would like to emphasize that crane operators should not continue lifting when the overload alarm has been activated. This is a dangerous practice and could lead to the failure of the crane. The Ministry also warns against ignoring any safety device fitted to the crane, such as the overload indicator.

The Ministry will not hesitate to take legal action against any person who carries out unsafe crane operations that endanger the lives of others.

For media queries, please contact:

Mr Adrian Heok
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Manpower
Tel: 5395 685 / 5395 658
Fax: 5344 840
Email: Adrian_Heok@mom.gov.sg