On Friday (8 April), a 45-year-old woman died after falling from a height at the office building CapitaSpring.
What Happened
The woman was an engineer working on the maintenance level above the 16th floor of the CapitaSpring building when she stepped on a false ceiling panel according to The Straits Times.
False ceiling panels are usually used to make drop ceilings or suspended ceilings that hang from the main ceiling to improve a room’s aesthetic appeal. They are often designed to be lightweight and are not meant to hold weight.
Therefore, the panel gave way under the woman’s weight and caused her to fall about 30 metres, landing on the ninth floor.
Paramedics from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
The accident is currently under investigation by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The CapitaSpring building is a 51-storey, 280 metres tall skyscraper that was completed in 2021. It is also one of the tallest buildings located in the Central Business District (CBD).
Measures Taken To Ensure Workplace Safety
This isn’t the first instance of workplace fatalities that occurred due to a fall from height.
Last year in February, a construction firm director died after falling through an opening in a floor of a semi-detached house that was undergoing further construction work.
The Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) council have since given a reminder to those working in the construction industry to observe the comprehensive risk assessment practice to eliminate or minimise any foreseeable risk that may arise when working near floor openings.
In the case of roof works, the WSH guidelines also include the need for fragile roof surfaces – like a false ceiling panel – to be identified with appropriate warning signages at roof access points to reduce the potential of workers falling through the roof when they are conducting roof works.
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