Dear Colleagues,
Work at height hazards on rooftops with unprotected side/edges, glass canopy, walkways and fragile surfaces are commonly faced by our employees especially in the cleaning industry. They are susceptible to hazardous work at height due to the nature of their work environment and/or instructions from ignorant Building Owners/Management without providing them a safe work environment.
Attached herewith EHS Alert on an incident where a cleaner of another cleaning company died after he fell through a ceiling at Tampines Mall. The cleaner was cleaning a walkway above the mall’s atrium at Level 4 where he fell through the false ceiling and landed on Level 3. He later died from his injuries in the hospital. Please refer to the attached advisory for more information on the incident and follow the recommended risk control measure. I would like to stress that such activity are not uncommon in our industry and we must learn from it to prevent it from happening within our workplaces.
Falls from height have always been a perennial workplace safety and health concern across every industry as it is a common cause of fatal injuries in workplaces. However, we must believe that all workplace fatalities could have been prevented if adequate control measures are put in place. Let us all continue to make concerned efforts to train, educate and engage our employees and stakeholders to eliminate and manage all foreseeable work at height risks.
If you need any advice pertaining to work at height activities at your sites, please feel free to contact me.
Regards
Samuel Leong