SINGAPORE - Despite the pair not speaking the same language, a supervisor from India at a construction firm forged a close friendship with a colleague from China – only to see him die at work.

The 44-year-old heavy vehicle driver was crushed to death between his truck and a stationary concrete mixer truck at a worksite near the Singapore Zoo in Mandai on March 9.

When Ms Durga Arivan, senior psychotherapist and manager of psychotherapy and counselling services at local charity HealthServe, saw the supervisor six days later, he was still trembling.

She said: “The bond was so rich, they called each other ‘brother’. So the impact was definitely bad.”

She added that during a group counselling session, the supervisor found healing as he wept with other colleagues.

In 2023, 36 workers died at work.

Although this was a record low for Singapore’s workplace fatality rate, what is often unseen are the scores of traumatised workers affected by their colleagues’ deaths.

Mr Michael Lim, director of the Migrant Workers’ Segment at the National Trades Union Congress, who oversees the Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC), said: “Beyond just feeling the loss of a fellow brother, sometimes it’s also about fears for their own safety and a stigma of doing certain tasks that may result in the same accident.”

When part of the Fuji Xerox Towers building in Tanjong Pagar collapsed during demolition works on June 15, 2023, killing Indian worker Vinoth Kumar, the MWC referred about 10 of the worker’s colleagues and relatives for counselling.

Said Mr Lim: “(We want) to make sure their state of mind is ready. The last thing we want is for them to resume work, and something else happens to them.”

In early 2023, a worker killed himself at a worksite. Around 100 of his colleagues and dormitory mates were sent for group counselling at HealthServe.

Ms Durga said some were newcomers going through adjustment issues when the incident happened, while others refused to return to the worksite.

Mr Lim said the MWC encourages employers to recognise early signs of mental distress, such as workers being distracted at work, and provide help.

Local charities that work with migrant workers said their mental health struggles might not be immediately apparent.

The MWC’s 24-hour helpline receives about 400 to 500 calls a month. Most workers do not directly seek help for their mental health, and only want assistance for various employment and adjustment issues, said Mr Lim.

A representative from ItsRainingRaincoats (IRR), which befriends and supports nearly 50,000 migrant workers annually, said financial woes are major stressors for them.

She said most of them take up huge loans to work in Singapore and feel compelled to work overtime to pay them back, or are pressured by their employers to do so. As a result, many do not have adequate rest.

Added the representative: “Some workers said that if they decline a few times, they would be threatened with not being offered overtime options again.”

A construction worker from India said he works overtime every Saturday, and has only four rest days a month. “Nowadays, it’s very difficult to find a job in Singapore. I’ll just work, I don’t want to cause trouble,” he said.

Mr Naim (not his real name), 33, a Bangladeshi electrical worker, said he had to switch to a lower-paying job during the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused his girlfriend to break up with him.

The stress caused him to suffer panic attacks in November 2023. He said: “My head hurt, I was dizzy and breathing very fast. I couldn’t sleep for a week.”

Now, he takes psychiatric medicine, attends counselling at HealthServe, and does breathing exercises to calm down.

A Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesperson said all new migrant workers attend a Settling-In Programme, where they learn about their rights and responsibilities, how to manage stress, and avenues to seek help.

She encouraged those with employment issues to seek help from the ministry, or the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management for salary claims.

Volunteer migrant workers who are trained in basic psychological first aid are encouraged to look out for their peers, and refer them to MOM or other avenues of help, added the spokesperson.

Mr Jai (not his real name), a Bangladeshi supervisor at a construction firm who has worked in Singapore for more than a decade, hopes dormitories can provide free mental health screening for migrant workers.

He said: “Nobody will go to the psychiatrist because they would think it is a waste of money. Even if it costs only $20, I would go and eat briyani with my friends instead.

“Everybody will say, ‘Mentally, I’m okay’, but there might be some things even (the worker) doesn’t know.”

HealthServe and IRR are looking for more native language-speaking counsellors to join their respective teams.

Ms May Lim, who leads HealthServe’s crisis helpline team, said an Indian worker once found great comfort in their Tamil-speaking helpline staff. She said: “When he heard our helpline staff talk to him, he said, ‘You remind me of my mum.’ After he pulled through, he called us and said, ‘I’m so thankful that you guys were there for me.’”