SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA) was on Tuesday (Nov 18) fined S$230,000 (US$176,500) for work safety failures that contributed to the death of two of its officers at Tuas Incineration Plant in 2021.
Mr Kwok Yeow Wai, 65, and Mr Wee Eng Leng, 64, died when an explosion occurred in an electrical switch room where they had been sent to troubleshoot a fault.
A third employee, Mr Low Yin Choon, 59, survived the blast with injuries.
The incident occurred on Sep 23, 2021, when the three men were called in to troubleshoot an industrial fan in the incineration plant that could not be switched off.
After unsuccessful attempts to switch the industrial fan off remotely, they went to the switch room to try to do this.
In the process, either Mr Kwok or Mr Wee disconnected the circuit breaker from the switch while a live current was still flowing. This “racking out” with a live current was against safety regulations.
It resulted in an upflash explosion in the switch room. All three men, who were not wearing suitable fire-retardant gear, were injured in the blast.
Mr Kwok was pronounced dead at the scene and Mr Wee died in hospital three days later. Mr Low was hospitalised with severe burns over 27 per cent of his body surface area.
