NEA fined $230k for safety lapses in 2021 fatal incineration plant blast

Judge finds that agency’s failings had caused grievous harm, which led to deaths of 2 men

- Andrew Wong Correspondent

The National Environment Agency (NEA) has been fined $230,000 for safety lapses in the 2021 Tuas Incineration Plant (TIP) explosion.

The incident on Sept 23, 2021, claimed the lives of two NEA employees — Mr Kwok Yeow Wai and Mr Wee Eng Leng. A third employee, engineer Low Yin Choon, was seriously injured.

NEA and two of its employees were charged with workplace safety offences in December 2023 following an investigation that involved several agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

Christopher Lee Yew Binn, divisional director of the waste infrastructure operations and management division of NEA at the time, and Ng Wah Yong, then general manager of TIP, were handed one charge each under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

Lee’s case has been fixed for a pretrial conference on Nov 28. Ng’s case will be mentioned again in court on Nov 20.

On Nov 18, NEA pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at work.

The lapses included a failure to ensure that the permit-to-work (PTW) system implemented for high-voltage switchgear racking works was in compliance with electrical installation regulations.

The PTW is a formal authorisation system used in an organisation to control selected work activities to ensure safe execution of work onsite.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Agnes Chan said the PTW allows for hazards to be assessed by suitably qualified people.

Investigations also revealed that the engineering manager on the day was not authorised to issue a PTW to Mr Kwok.

The prosecutor added that the authorised person was not informed that high-voltage electrical works would be taking place on the day of the incident.

She said the PTW system was “defective” and lacked the essential gatekeeping function when dealing with high-risk work.