Firm fined $160,000 over 2020 workplace death at LTA site

A construction company has been fined $160,000 over a workplace accident that killed a worker near the Changi MRT depot in December 2020.

- Shaffiq Alkhatib

Lum Chang Building Contractors had failed to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of employees from BLT Geoworks, which it had engaged for works around Tanah Merah MRT station.

The company was convicted on Dec 17, 2024, of a charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

In the accident on Dec 15, 2020, Bangladeshi worker Shajahan Mohammad, 29, died of multiple injuries after part of a sheet pile struck him at a Land Transport Authority (LTA) construction site beside the Changi MRT depot.

Sheet piles, usually made of steel, timber or concrete, are used in construction to help retain soil and provide excavation support. They can be either permanent or temporary structures.