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A 55-year-old Singaporean worker died on Jul. 20 after he fell off a boat and was struck by the propeller of the boat's motor.

According to The Straits Times (ST), the incident happened at Pulau Brani, which is an island located off the southern coast of Singapore, near Keppel Harbour.

Pronounced dead at scene

The latest workplace fatality was first revealed by Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Council chairman John Ng on Jul. 27, during a speech for the WSH Awards 2022, reported ST.

In response to queries from ST, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) confirmed that the accident had taken place at around 11am, at 11 Brani Way.

11 Brani Way is the address of the Police Coast Guard's (PCG) headquarters on Brani island.

MOM also shared that the worker had been alone on the boat at the time, and was an employee of Citadelle, a consultancy services and training company.

The police told ST that they were subsequently alerted to the incident at about 11:20am. A paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force later pronounced the worker dead on scene.

Based on preliminary investigations, no foul play is suspected, and investigations are ongoing.

31 workplace deaths so far, in 2022

According to ST, the worker who died had been a trainer with the company.

It is the third workplace death reported this year that involves a worker falling into the sea.

The incident also takes the workplace fatality count to 31 this year.

In response to the incident, NTUC Assistant Secretary-General Melvin Yong shared in a Facebook post on Jul. 28, that he was deeply saddened by the news, and that Workplace Safety and Health remained a "collective responsibility of employers and workers".

Yong added:

"Workplace safety is an important topic that needs to be addressed urgently and we need to act now collectively to prevent more accidents from happening as one life lost is one too many.

This is why in the upcoming parliament sitting on Monday, I will be delivering an Adjournment Motion on keeping our workers and workplaces safe."

In May 2022, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had called out the recent spate of workplace deaths in the year, noting that there have been "far too many", and that it is "not acceptable".

PM Lee noted in May that there had been 20 workplace deaths that have taken place since the beginning of 2022, with 10 happening in April 2022 alone.

There were 37 workplace deaths that had been reported in 2021.

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