• A director of a construction firm died on Feb 10 while overseeing alteration works at a house
• He had fallen through a floor opening and landed on a staircase about 4.7m below.
• MOM said this is the fourth fatal workplace accident since the start of February

SINGAPORE — Mr Koh Liang Zhao, 20, was in his room resting on Wednesday last week (Feb 10), after completing his night-shift duties as a full-time national serviceman, when his 19-year-old brother woke him up with dire news.

Their father, Mr Koh Kok Heng, 53, had suffered an accident while overseeing construction work at a semi-detached house around Dunearn Road and had been taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The brothers rushed to the hospital where their mother was waiting, but by the time they arrived at around 1pm, it was already too late. Their father had already died.

“It was so sudden ... and it happened just before Chinese New Year,” the older of the two brothers said. “We were going to have our reunion dinner.”

The deceased man, a permanent resident originally from Malaysia, was one of two company directors at JMS Construction.

On Feb 10, two days before Chinese New Year, he was at 38 University Walk overseeing the alteration of a two-storey semi-detached house when the fatal accident happened.

On a project banner seen by TODAY outside the accident site on Friday (Feb 19), the alteration included adding a new attic to the residential unit. Work at the site was expected to be completed by June this year.

A bulletin from the Workplace Safety and Health Council (WSHC) on Wednesday said that Koh had fallen through a floor opening and landed on a staircase about 4.7m below.

He was pronounced dead at the scene by attending paramedics, the council said.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told TODAY that it had received a call for assistance at about 11.40am that day.

In response to TODAY’s queries, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that JMS Construction, which is both the occupier of the site and employer, has been ordered to stop all works.

An occupier has control of a premises, regardless of whether they are the owners or not, MOM said.

While Mr Koh’s oldest son does not know the full details of the accident, as he has yet to receive the autopsy report, he understands that his father succumbed to a head injury.

He described his father as a busy man and always on the phone with either his clients or business partner.

“He didn’t have a lot of time for us,” Mr Koh said, though he added that his father would take the family on holidays when time permitted.

“All of us feel very sad ... but life has to go on,” he said.

Madam Koh Tong Suan, JMS Construction’s second director, declined comment when TODAY visited her registered address.

It is unclear if Mdm Koh, who was visibly upset, is related to her business partner, whose death was first reported by The Straits Times.

MOM said that the accident is the fourth fatal workplace incident here since the start of February.

The other three incidents involved:

• a 31-year-old Indian national who was found unconscious and slouched against the control panel of a boom lift

• a 67-year-old Singaporean man who died after falling off his trailer bed while helping to adjust a steel bundle

• a 30-year-old delivery rider whose motorcycle crashed into the back of a truck along the Ayer Rajah Expressway

MOM said that it is investigating all four incidents.

In a list of workplace fatalities submitted to MOM for the period of January to September last year, there were at least 23 deaths spanning across industries that include construction, transportation and manufacturing.

MOM added on Friday that in response to a spate of workplace fatalities in November and December last year, it had conducted an enforcement operation from mid-December to mid-February this year, with 400 inspections targetting high-risk sectors such as construction, manufacturing and marine industries.

It will continue to ramp up its enforcement efforts, with a greater focus on the risks of working at heights.

In December last year, Mr Melvin Yong, assistant secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress, said that companies should be proactive in reviewing workplace safety protocols and train employees to take charge of matters relating to workplace safety and health, among other measures.

His comment came after five workers died over a span of two weeks, which he said was a "grim reminder" to guard against fatigue.