Burnt worker is 23rd person to be killed or injured this month
Teh Joo Lin, Straits Times 26 Jun 08;
A WORKER was badly burnt yesterday during a fire onboard a boat in a Tuas shipyard, the second major accident at the same facility in the last 10 days.
The 54-year-old man, believed to be the ship's engineer and a New Zealander, also became the 23rd person either injured or killed in shipyard accidents this month.
He was rushed to hospital where he was warded with second-degree burns. He was said to be in a stable condition.
The blaze was the second accident since June 17 at Drydocks World Singapore - part of an international ship-repair firm - and the latest in a rash of accidents that have rocked the shipping industry.
This month, shipyard accidents have claimed the lives of five workers and injured 18 others.
That tally includes two workers who recently died after being badly burnt in an explosion earlier this month.
Yesterday's fire came just a week after safety officials urged shipyards to call an unprecedented 'time-out' from work to review safety procedures. So far, at least 26 out of the 89 shipyards here have responded to the call.
Drydocks was said to have conducted a time-out last Friday. The fire yesterday happened onboard the Pacific Sentinel, a supply vessel that docked at the Drydocks yard earlier in the week, according to workers there.
The blaze apparently began in a compartment near the engine room. The Straits Times understands the engineer was doing repair work there.
At the same shipyard last Tuesday, two Indian nationals died and five others were injured while working below deck on another ship. It appeared to be a case of gas poisoning.
A Manpower Ministry spokesman said all work at Drydocks had been stopped.
In a separate accident on Sunday in Pasir Panjang, four crewmen onboard a container vessel were scalded by steam and hot water.
The run of deaths and injuries comes at a time when the shipping sector is enjoying a boom in business.
Last year, the marine and offshore industry - largely the ship-repair and offshore sectors - rang in $13.05billion in total output - a 33per cent jump from 2006.
Madam Halimah Yacob, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Manpower, said the flurry of work creates tight deadlines, but worker safety should be the top priority.
'Workers must internalise the safety ethos and be conscious of safety all the time... or complacency can set in. That is when it becomes very dangerous.'
Meanwhile, inspectors this week began checks which focus on the safety protocols at shipyards.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JERMYN CHOW
