ExxonMobil refinery fire: Seven charged over fatal oil refinery fire

Straits Times 21 Jan 11;

FIVE employees of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific and two other workers employed by the oil company's contractor were charged in court yesterday with breaching workplace safety laws in relation to a fire at the oil refinery about four years ago.

The fire at the Jurong oil refinery on May 3, 2007 claimed the lives of three workers and injured one. A fifth managed to escape unharmed.

The three who died worked for Mun Siong Engineering, which has since been accused of failing to take measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at work.

The company, which was engaged by ExxonMobil to provide services for mechanical works, faces a fine of up to $500,000 upon conviction.

Its case will be next mentioned on Tuesday.

The five from the oil giant accused yesterday of contravening the Workplace Safety and Health Act are: fuels manufacturing coordinator Yeo Soon Yong; operation supervisor Poonis Iswaran Ganesan; and senior operation technicians Soh Beng Thong, Ng Kim Seng and Lim Joe Ann.

Mun Siong's two employees accused of a similar offence are its site supervisor Anowar Hossain Khan Shahadatali Khan and process and maintenance worker Hannan Abdul Jalil Monowara Begum.

If convicted, each faces a fine of up to $1,000.

The men's cases will come up for mention again on Feb 17.

ELENA CHONG

Engineering firm fined $100K for fatal fire
Khushwant Singh Straits Times 25 Jan 11;

MUN Siong Engineering was fined $100,000 on Tuesday for failing to ensure the safety of three workers who died from injuries sustained in a fire at the ExxonMobil oil refinery on Jurong Island in 2007. The maximum fine for this offence is $500,000.

A district court heard that Mun Siong was the resident contractor to maintain and repair equipment at the refinery. On May 3, 2007, five of its workers had removed a steel plate between two heat exchangers when a liquid containing the flammable naphtha spilled out. They did not have the proper drip pan to collect the spill so they used water to flush it away. Ten minutes later, a fire broke out. Civil Defence and ExxonMobil firefighters took an hour to put out the blaze.

Singaporeans Tan Kong Lam, 56, and Ng Swee Min, 47, both working as a pipe fitter, were found dead at the scene. Mr Prabir Braja, 35, a Bangladeshi, who was among the three maintenance workers that managed to run away, suffered 70 per cent burns and died two days later on May 5. Another suffered 15 per cent burns. He recovered while a fifth was unhurt.

Arguing for a light fine, lawyer Tan Liam Beng said that the court should note Mun Siong's impeccable safety record for more than 40 years. The 2007 accident was its only safety violation and a total of $332,560 in insurance had been paid to the grieving families, he added.

On Jan 20, five employees of ExxonMobil were charged for breaching workplace safety laws in relation to the fire. Two workers of Mun Siong were also charged with the same violation.

Two workers fined over fatal incident at oil refinery
Shaffiq Alkhatib Today Online 11 Feb 11;

SINGAPORE - Two Bangladeshi workers were each fined the maximum $1,000 after their tardiness caused the death of three men at an ExxonMobil oil refinery in 2007.

Site supervisor Anowar Hossain Khan Md Shahadatali Khan and construction worker Hannan Abdul Jalil Monowara Begum are with engineering firm Mun Siong, which provided services for mechanical work at the facility at Ayer Chawan Place in Jurong. They had failed to cooperate with their employer, which led to the fatal incident.

Manpower Ministry prosecutor Vince Tio told the court that a fire broke out at the oil refinery on May 3, 2007. Singaporean pipe fitters Tan Kong Lam, 56, and Ng Swee Min, 47, died at the scene, while Bangladeshi worker Prabir Braja, 35, suffered 70 per cent burns and died in hospital.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force and ExxonMobil took about an hour to extinguish the fire, which began shortly after workers opened a flange and naphta, a flammable liquid, flowed out.

Hannan should have re-tightened the flange to stop the flow. He instead sprayed water at it to wash the naphta away. Anowar, meanwhile, failed to ensure that a drip pan container was at hand to contain the spillage.

Mr Tio said the liquid could have ignited after it came into contact with some hot surfaces in the area.

Mun Siong Engineering was fined $100,000 on Jan 25 for failing to provide a safe working environment for its employees. SHAFFIQ ALKHATIB

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