Humans Aren't Cargo

 Number of notices issued on the rise, but other violations have fallen: LTA ST, Published on Oct 26, 2013 KEEPING TO THE LIMIT: While most lorry loads keep within the designated passenger loads, an increasing number are violating the maximum limit. -- ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG GOING DOWN: Unsafe practices, such as these workers sitting atop a pile of cargo on a lorry (above) in 2009, have dipped since new laws were passed. -- ST FILE PHOTO By Jalelah Abu Baker   THE number of lorry drivers caught carrying too many workers on their vehicles is on the rise, going by latest figures provided by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). There were 559 notices issued to drivers for carrying too many passengers on lorry load decks for the first eight months of this year alone, surpassing the number of notices issued for the whole of last year. There were 429 notices issued last year, a jump of more than eight times from the 51 in 2011. Since September last yea...

ST, Published on Oct 17, 2013  By Daryl Chin And Maryam Mokhtar A TOTAL of 16 men were taken to two hospitals after an accident along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) between a car and a lorry last night. The Singapore Civil Defence Force was alerted to the accident, which happened before the Jurong Town Hall exit in the direction of the city, at 8.56pm. The first of four ambulances arrived within five minutes after receiving the call, and no critical injuries were observed on site, an SCDF spokesman said. Of the 16 casualties, four were taken to the National University Hospital, and the rest to Alexandra Hospital. All of them were conscious when they left the scene, the spokesman added. The Straits Times understands that most of the men injured are workers travelling in the lorry. One of the workers, who was taken to Alexandra Hospital, said they were being ferried home after work when the accident happened. Just last month, 17 people were...

ST,  Published on Oct 18, 2013 The driver of the SUV involved in Wednesday night's accident on the AYE is reported to be a Mr Tan. He was quoted as saying that the lorry had slowed down without warning and he could not brake in time. As of yesterday, 14 of the 16 injured workers have been discharged from hospital. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE  THE driver of a black sport utility vehicle (SUV) that rear-ended a lorry on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Wednesday night has been arrested for drink driving, the police said yesterday. The accident, which happened just before the Jurong Town Hall exit, left 16 men who were in the lorry injured. They were all workers from Hypex Engineering, which was ferrying 20 of them back to their dormitory in Jurong. Mr Ng Cheow Teck, the company's operations manager, said the black SUV had collided with the right rear side of the lorry, which caused it to skid and turn over. While the workers at the back of ...

ST, Published on Sep 13, 2013 In yesterday's accident, a bus (above) ferrying 60 passengers from Johor Baru was said to have skidded and hit a lorry carrying 16 foreign workers, which in turn crashed into another bus. The accident occurred on the AYE, near Jurong Town Hall Road. -- ST PHOTO: LIM SIN THAI    SEVENTEEN people were injured yesterday morning after a lorry was involved in collisions with two private buses on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE). It is understood that one of the buses skidded, then rammed into the side of the lorry before the Jurong Town Hall Road exit at around 8am. The impact caused the lorry to swerve and hit the back of the other bus, which was not carrying any passengers. Two of the four lanes had to be closed to traffic, causing a jam. The first bus was ferrying about 60 passengers from Johor Baru to Jurong East, while the lorry was taking 16 f...

Report: Most fatalities in construction sector; big drop in occupational diseases ST,  Published on Sep 06, 2013 By Janice Heng THERE were slight falls in the number of workplace deaths and injuries in the first six months of this year compared with the same period last year, new figures reveal. There were 25 workplace deaths from January to June, down from 26 in that period last year, according to a report released yesterday by the Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) Institute. The high-risk construction sector continued to account for the most deaths. Eleven workers there lost their lives, up from nine in the first half of last year. Most workplace deaths were due to falls or victims being hit by moving vehicles or machinery. The number of minor injuries at work fell to 5,029 from 5,160 previously. But there were 257 major injuries, two more than in the first half of last year. The construction sector remained the main contributor, though it saw fewer major injur...

ST, Published on Aug 14, 2013 The driver of a white lorry, Mr Ramli Akbar, was arrested after his vehicle swerved across four lanes on Sembawang Road before hitting a tree, tipping over and crashing into an Audi sedan on Monday night. A pill found on the driver has been sent to the Central Narcotics Bureau for testing. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN    By Lim Yan Liang A LORRY driver who had been taking shipyard workers home was arrested after losing control of his vehicle and swerving across four lanes into a tree. The lorry, with three Indian workers in the back and three locals in the front, ran into the kerb at a junction before careering across Sembawang Road into the tree and tipping over onto its side. It skidded for about 3m before crashing into a white Audi sedan parked in front of a seafood restaurant. One Indian wor...

Audrey Kang The New Paper Thursday, Aug 08, 2013 Reproduced on  AsiaOne SINGAPORE - What was supposed to be a quiet Sunday morning turned into a life-saving attempt after his wife shook him awake. Mr Hari L.R. Arjunan, 38, was sound asleep when his wife, Madam Shantha, woke him, telling him frantically that someone had fallen into the canal next to their flat. Madam Shantha, 36, a housewife, said: "I heard a loud noise and my dog was barking nonstop. So I looked out the window. "I saw a lorry on its side and I rushed to wake my husband. I told him to go help because nobody was helping." The accident happened on Sunday at around 7.40am on the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), near the Jurong East Avenue 1 exit. All nine people in the lorry - all foreign workers - were injured when the vehicle was thrown onto its side after a BMW collided with it. The driver and a worker in the front seat were trapped and later freed. The others who sat in the back ...