A 36-year-old Indian national in Singapore was sentenced to seven months' jail on Jul. 11 after his negligence led to the death of a painter at Orchard in January 2019.

According to court documents, Ramu Gopinath was employed as a work-at-height supervisor at the Royal Plaza building on 25 Scotts Road when he instructed Sundarrajan Manikaraja to descend the building without a banksman on the ground.

The painter's rope, which held him up, got tangled with a moving bus and he suffered a fatal fall.

Tasked to clean and paint Royal Plaza building

Ramu was employed under CKR Contract Services Pte Ltd and had been deployed as a supervisor to oversee cleaning and painting works at the building on Jan. 22, 2019.

The building has two sides, the "Galleria" and the "Pacific" sides.

Sundarrajan, along with another worker, were assigned to paint the ledges on the exterior of the "Galleria" side when the incident occurred.

They were suspended along the building's exterior by ropes dangling from the top of the building to the ground floor, using an industrial rope access system set up by Ramu.

Failed to ensure a banksman was on the ground

The three men were on the roof around 5pm, before Ramu told the painters to start work.

Ministry of Manpower (MOM) prosecutors highlighted that he was aware that a banksman, Sahul Hameed Abbasali, was assigned to the "Galleria" side on that day.

As a banksman, Sahul was responsible for directing vehicle movement safely on or around a worksite.

MOM prosecutors also noted that both Sundarrajan and Samban had relied on Ramu to know when it was safe for them to begin their climb down.

According to court documents, Ramu had called Sahul on the phone but the latter did not answer.

Despite this, Ramu proceeded to instruct Sundarrajan and Samban to descend from the building roof.

Rope got tangled with moving bus and snapped

As the workers scaled down the roof to start painting, the rope which supported Sundarrajan entangled with the side mirror of a moving bus at the ground level.

The rope snapped and he fell approximately 62 metres down.

Prosecutors sought eight to nine months' jail for Ram and highlighted his supervisory role, with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the two workers under him.

They also noted that he had instructed without confirming the banksman's position on the ground to prevent any vehicular interference with the rope system.

Ramu claimed that he had trusted Sahul to stand by at the "Galleria" side, but prosecutors said a reasonable supervisor "would not have held such an unreasonable belief".

He was later charged with performing a negligent act which endangered the safety of others without reasonable cause.

According to WSHA, any person at work found guilty of any negligent act which endangers the safety or health of himself or others may face a fine of up to S$30,000 or jail up to two years, or both.

Top photo via Google Maps