Supervisor jailed after passing bus snaps rope of worker suspended outside hotel, leading to fatal fall
Ramu Gopinath called the banksman who was supposed to monitor for passing vehicles, but when there was no answer, he directed the workers to begin their descent from the roof anyway.
Screengrab from Google Street View of Royal Plaza on Scotts, where the accident occurred.
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SINGAPORE: A work-at-height supervisor was sentenced to seven months' jail on Thursday (Jul 11) for his negligence that led to a painter falling to his death after a passing bus got entangled with the rope holding him up.
Ramu Gopinath, a 36-year-old Indian national, had been convicted at trial of one count under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) of a negligent act endangering safety.
He had failed to ensure that there was a banksman on the ground to prevent any vehicular interference with the industrial rope access system while the victim, Mr Sundarrajan Manikaraja, was suspended outside a hotel - Royal Plaza on Scotts - to paint its exterior on Jan 22, 2019.
Banksmen are responsible for directing vehicle movement safely on or around a worksite.
The court heard that Gopinath worked for CKR Contract Services as a supervisor for painting works at 25 Scotts Road.
Royal Plaza had hired the company, Advanced Specialist, to clean and paint the exterior of the building, and the works were subcontracted to CKR Engineering, which in turn subcontracted them to CKR Paints & Coating Specialist and CKR Contract Services.
On Jan 22, 2019, the victim was one of two workers who were tasked to paint the exterior window ledges at the Galleria side of the building.
They were suspended along the exterior of the building by ropes set up via an industrial rope access system, with ropes dangling from the roof to the ground floor.
Prosecutors from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said Gopinath had a duty to ensure a banksman was positioned on the ground, to make sure there was no vehicular interference with the rope system, before giving the workers the green light to descend the building.
There was a banksman assigned to the task that day, but when Gopinath called him, he did not answer.
Ramu then instructed the victim and the other worker to descend from the roof of the building, even though there was no banksman on the ground.
While the two workers were descending from the roof to begin painting, the side mirror of a passing bus got entangled with the rope supporting the victim, snapping it.
The victim fell about 62m to his death.
At trial, Gopinath claimed that he had placed his trust in the banksman that he would be standing at the Galleria side, but the prosecution said a reasonable supervisor "would not have held such an unreasonable belief".
Gopinath denied that he had the duty to call the banksman and obtain the banksman's acknowledgement before instructing the workers to begin their descent.
The trial judge convicted him of the charge.
The MOM prosecutors sought eight to nine months' jail for Gopinath, saying he was in a supervisory role with two workers taking instructions from him and relying on him for their safety.
They said Gopinath's "lackadaisical attitude" towards the safety of his co-workers and his failure to ensure the availability and presence of a banksman had placed the two men in harm's way.
For negligence endangering the safety of others under the WSHA, Gopinath could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$30,000, or both.
