A 70-year-old Singaporean man who pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of people at a workplace, which ultimately led to a mechanic's death, was previously sentenced to four months in jail.

Koh Lian Kok, owner of transportation services company Ban Keong Transport Co, appealed to the High Court for a fine but was handed a 14-month jail term instead.

In a judgment, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said the court felt the four-month jail term was "manifestly and grossly inadequate".

"We also take this opportunity to emphasise the need for employers to implement adequate safety and health measures at their workplaces to give effect to the provisions under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.

The systemic breaches in this case were alarming and resulted in the preventable loss of an innocent life."

What happened

According to the judgment, the deceased, Bee Choo Siong, a mechanic employed by equipment supplier JP Nelson, died on Oct. 18, 2018,

On Oct. 11, 2018, equipment supplier JP Nelson contacted Ban Keong to arrange to transport a boom lift.

Ban Keong is in the business of transporting heavy equipment and machinery.

Koh had asked Ho Man Kwong, a lorry loader operator employed by Ban Keong, to carry out the operation.

Bee and another mechanic, Shang Jiawei, were deployed by JP Nelson to help out with the operation.

He did not assign another trained staff to oversee or safely execute the lifting of the boom lift and only sent Ho, who was found to not have adequate skills or knowledge.

No risk assessment or lifting plan was cleared prior to the task.

When they were trying to lift the boom lift onto the lorry, Ho asked Shang what the boom lift weighed so he could prepare the slings for it.

Shang, who was unsure, said it might be more than three tons.

However, the boom lift weighed 7.08 tons.

Ho proceeded to secure two webbing slings, each rated to handle a maximum load of two tons, to rig and lift the boom lift onto the lorry loader.

The webbing slings snapped just about 0.5 metres above the ground after the boom lift was lifted, causing it to fall and hit Bee.

Bee was pronounced dead at the scene, and autopsy reports indicated that he suffered a head injury.

Wants a fine instead of going to jail

Koh pleaded guilty to a charge of contravening the Workplace Safety and Health Act by not taking necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of persons at a workplace as an employer.

Apparently, as part of a "plea deal", the death of Bee was not explicitly mentioned in the charge.

Koh was eventually sentenced by a district judge to four months in jail on Jul. 3, 2023.

Dissatisfied with the outcome, he appealed to seek a fine of between S$75,000 and S$175,000.

A "plea deal" to not mention the death in the charge

Before Chief Justice Menon, Court of Appeal Justice Steven Chong and High Court Judge Vincent Hoong, Koh's lawyers argued that the harm caused was not "high" and the safety breaches were merely "systemic", in the "sense" that it was "just the way he ran his business", and that Koh did not act "intentionally" or "rashly".

They further argued that the district judge should not have considered Bee's death, not only because of the "plea deal", but because they believed Koh's breaches were not "a proximate cause of the death".

The prosecution argued that even if the death was not stated in the charge, the court may still "generally consider" actual harm, including the death in this case if the offending conduct had contributed to the said harm in "more than a minimal, negligible or trivial manner".

"Inescapable conclusion" that the breaches caused the death

Before deciding the appropriate sentence for Koh, Menon explained that the court decided not to place significant weight on Bee's death — even though the facts showed it was an "inescapable conclusion" that Koh's lapses caused it — as they agreed with Koh's lawyers that it would not be appropriate to reverse the proceedings at such a late stage.

However, he reiterated that if facts are to be ignored, regardless of any agreement between the parties, it should not have been placed on record.

"The court cannot be prevented from having regard to material facts that are before it.," he emphasised.

Utter indifference to the harm and danger he can cause: CJ Menon

The court disagreed with the lawyers' characterisation of harm as not being "high", Menon said, adding that this was even after not taking into account Bee's death, as there were three people were exposed to harm with a high chance of fatality.

Menon noted the "egregiousness of the breaches", pointing out that Koh had "utterly failed" to perform his duties under three different safety regulations and codes.

"He had simply entered into a contract to transport the boom lift for a mere sum of $180, without any regard to his statutory duties as an employer."

He said that it was "only a matter of time" before such an accident would occur.

On the lawyers' argument that Koh's breaches were "systemic", Menon pointed out Koh had conducted his business in "n a reckless manner in that he was indifferent to the danger he was posing to others" and was exactly the "very behaviour that Parliament intended to curb" when they passed stiffer penalties for the WSHA.

"There was utter indifference to the harm and danger he could cause or expose others to."

Court will increase the sentence of an offender regardless of whether the prosecution appeals if justice calls for it

After the court expressed their intention to not only dismiss Koh's appeal, but also to enhance it, Koh's lawyers argued that his sentence should not be enhanced as he was already facing a jail term, the appeal was not "audacious" and the prosecution had not appealed.

The court disagreed, with Menon explaining that the lack of an appeal from the prosecution should not be a consideration on whether the court decides to enhance an offender's sentence.

He emphasised that the court will do so where the interests of justice call for it.

Staggering number of breaches symptomatic of a pressing problem: CJ Menon

Menon said the court also took the opportunity to ask the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to provide an update on the measures the ministry has undertaken to monitor safety compliance at the workplace.

Generally, MOM inspects around 15,000 workplaces annually, with around 5,000 of these aimed at "higher-risk" sectors such as construction, marine, and transportation.

Every year, at least 9,000 breaches are detected through these inspections, but MOM does not have the exact number of breaches relating to the unsafe operation of mobile cranes, including with lorry loaders.

MOM said that upon detecting safety breaches, it issues notices of non-compliance to prompt rectification measures and, in more serious cases, takes more serious steps such as issuing remedial or stop-work orders or commencing prosecution.

While it is evident that MOM has taken several steps to monitor compliance, Menon said one would expect the number of breaches to decline over the years, but the figures are hovering at least 9,000 breaches annually.

"This staggering number of breaches might be symptomatic of a pressing problem that requires more stringent enforcement efforts and/or more severe penalties, especially in relation to offenders such as Mr Koh, who in an extreme effort to reduce his operating cost, appears to have abandoned safety measures altogether."

Top image from Ministry of Manpower via Lianhe Zaobao