SINGAPORE – Some 1,900 enforcement actions – including five stop work orders and 274 fines amounting to more than $400,000 – were issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) between April and June.

The inspections, which totalled more than 900, were conducted in companies in the construction, manufacturing, transportation and storage, and marine sectors.

In a statement, MOM said the operation was focused on inspecting machinery and vehicular safety at workplaces.

Some of the most common safety breaches found during MOM inspections were forklift keys left in ignition unattended and forklift operators failing to wear their seat belts while operating the vehicles, as well as unguarded openings which put workers at risk of falling from height.

As of Tuesday, at least 16 people have died in workplace accidents in 2023, with the most recent death happening on July 13 when a worker was killed at the site of the Changi East project, which includes the construction of Terminal 5 and a new runway for Changi Airport.

The worker, an Indian national, was operating a type of heavy equipment called a skid-steer loader – used to move or load materials – when he was fatally hit by a broken component while still inside the cabin.

There were 46 workplace deaths in 2022, an increase of nine over the 37 deaths from the previous year.