28 Sep
2010, Ref: 1011062
WSH Alert – Worker Fell while Plastering Wall at the Ledge of
Balcony
Incident
In this incident, a worker was found dead on the ground floor of
a construction site. Preliminary investigations revealed that
the worker was carrying out plastering works at the balcony area
within a unit on the 17th storey. The worker was
found without any fall protection equipment and it was suspected
that the worker fell from the edge of the balcony and landed on
the ground. The guardrails that were installed were dislodged at
one end.
Figure 1: Worker fell from the 17th storey balcony
while carrying out plastering work
A
similar incident
had occurred earlier this year. A worker carrying out plastering
work on the external wall of an air conditioning ledge fell to
his death from the 9th floor of a building.
Recommendations*
1. Conduct risk Assessment: A risk assessment must be
carried out by experienced and knowledgeable persons before
starting any work. Through the risk assessment, employers and
workers can identify hazards and take appropriate actions to
eliminate the hazard or reduce the risks involved. Control
measures and safe work procedures must be established,
communicated and implemented to ensure the safety and health of
the workers. In these cases, one of the key control measures
would be to prevent workers from falling while working at
height.
2. Establish workplace safety and health management programme
and safe work procedures: Employers should establish and
implement a safety and health management system with proper
control measures and the appropriate safe work procedures. This
includes an effective fall protection plan (FPP) for any work
that may subject workers to the risk of falling from height. The
fall protection plan must be clearly communicated to all levels
of personnel, such as through refresher courses or daily toolbox
meetings. It is also crucial to ensure that the safe work
procedures are adhered to by all sub-contractors to better
manage the safety and health of all workers at the workplace.
3. Fall prevention/protection: Work at height must be
made safe through fall prevention or protection measures.
Examples include installing guard rails that prevent persons
from falling over open sides, as well as travel restraint, fall
arrest or engineered systems with anchorage points as explained
below:
4. Ensure proper supervision: Employers should ensure that
workers adhere to the established safe work procedures, e.g. by
ensuring that workers follow the fall protection plan when working
at height and disciplining workers who perform unsafe acts and do
not comply with the safe work procedures.
Further Information
1. Workplace Safety and Health Act (Chapter 354A), please
click
here
2. Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions)
Regulations, please click
here
3. Workplace Safety and Health (Risk Management)
Regulations, please click
here
4. Workplace Safety and Health (Construction) Regulations,
please click
here
5. Code of Practice for Working Safely at Height, please
click
here
6. Singapore Standard SS 528 – 1: 2006 Personal Fall Arrest
Systems – Full-body harnesses
7. Singapore Standard SS 528 – 1: 2006 Personal Fall Arrest
Systems – Lanyards and energy absorbers
8. Singapore Standard SS 528 – 1: 2006 Personal Fall Arrest
Systems – Self-retracting lifelines
9. Singapore Standard SS 528 – 1: 2006 Personal Fall Arrest
Systems – Connectors with self-closing and
self-locking gates
Absolute Safety and engineering
