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Tag: electrocuted

  • Boy, 15, Possibly Electrocuted In Shower

    Boy, 15, Possibly Electrocuted In Shower

    A 15-year-old boy, Tan Yao Bin, was apparently electrocuted and killed while having a shower on Tuesday night. He suffered cardiac arrest and despite attempts by paramedics, who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), died later that night.

    The tragedy happened at Block 233, Bukit Batok East Avenue 5.

    Neighbour Wendy Wee, 60, an administrator, said she was alerted to the incident when she heard a boy cry out for his mother in Mandarin.

    The victim’s brother, Mr Tan Qi Lin, 19, told The Straits Times he was doing his homework in the three-room flat at the time.

    “My older brother, my dad and I immediately turned off the electrical supply at home. We saw that the wiring for the heater was exposed in the toilet itself,” said the Institute of Technical Education student.

    The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at 8.07pm and conveyed the victim to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in an unconscious state.

    The SCDF said paramedics administered CPR continuously throughout the journey to the hospital. But he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9.56pm. The police are investigating the unnatural death.

    Mr Tan said the family has been living there his whole life.

    “I’m really worried about my mother. She’s not coping well.”

    His mother works as a kindergarten assistant and his father is a production worker. Mr Tan has another brother, aged 21. His family and relatives were at the morgue yesterday morning to identify Yao Bin’s body.

    Mr Tan described his brother as “an intelligent and playful boy”. He said the family will change the unit’s electrical wiring, urging others to check on their heaters and electrical works regularly. “Check that the wiring for your heater is properly installed so that the same thing doesn’t happen to your family.”

    A neighbour who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, 39, said: “We are all worried now. We don’t have knowledge of electrical works. It’s hard to actually identify these issues until something happens.”

    The IT consultant continued: “We’re heartbroken that this happened to Yao Bin. He was a lively and friendly boy and had good grades.

    “We saw him grow up and he would come by our home to play. His parents have sacrificed a lot for their sons. This kind of thing shouldn’t have happened.”

    A 17-year-old was electrocuted in similar fashion on Aug 29, 2014.

    A coroner’s inquiry into his death last year found that he could have received the fatal electric shock when his hand came into contact with an electrically energised metallic shower outlet hose that was attached to a water heater.

     

    Source: The Straits Times

  • SMRT Contractor Suffered Burns After Electrocuted Doing Maintenance Work

    SMRT Contractor Suffered Burns After Electrocuted Doing Maintenance Work

    A rail worker survived a 750-volt electrical shock yesterday in what appeared to be another serious safety lapse at SMRT.

    In an incident that came just two months after a pair of SMRT trainees were killed by a train while they did maintenance work on a track, a contractor sustained burns while working on a power-supplying third rail. The incident happened at around 1.50am near the Sembawang station.

    Like the two dead trainees, the injured man was in his 20s. He was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in a Singapore Civil Defence Force ambulance, and was discharged after being treated for electrical burns to his left hand.

    SMRT spokesman Patrick Nathan said: “Three SMRT staff, along with two contractors, were on the track by the platform of Sembawang MRT station to conduct maintenance work during engineering hours.

    “One of the contractors was using a third-rail gauging bar to measure the height and distance of the third rail from the running rail, to ensure the correct positioning of the third rail, which supplies power to the trains. While carrying this out, the contractor sustained a burn injury to his left hand.”

    Mr Nathan said “the necessary approval was given to the team to access the track for the maintenance work”.

    “Our findings show that the contractor proceeded to an adjacent sector instead, for which prior approval had not been sought and where the traction power had not been switched off,” he said.

    The incident triggered a circuit breaker at the switch room at the Sembawang station.

    According to former SMRT employees, there are several layers of protection for workers on the track. Beyond authorising access, workers must be told where they can go. Short circuit devices are also installed, so that in case a third rail is accidentally switched on, workers are not electrocuted by the 750 volts of direct current.

    The Land Transport Authority said it would investigate.

    On March 22, two SMRT workers were killed by a train travelling at 60kmh near the Pasir Ris station. They were part of a team sent to check a potential equipment flaw.

    Last month, SMRT admitted that safety lapses led to the incident.

    In a blog post yesterday, National Transport Workers’ Union executive secretary Melvin Yong cited the incident and stressed the importance of workplace safety.

    “While service excellence is important, workplace safety should never be compromised,” he wrote.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • Death Of 17 Year Old Electrocuted In Shower Ruled A Misadventure

    Death Of 17 Year Old Electrocuted In Shower Ruled A Misadventure

    The death of a 17-year-old electrocuted while taking a shower was ruled to be misadventure by a state coroner on Thursday.

    On Aug 29 last year, Gregory Ng Kok Rui, a recent graduate of the Institute of Technical Education who was waiting for his national service call-up, went to take a shower at his home at around 10.15pm.

    Five minutes later, his family members heard him shouting before rushing to find him motionless on the floor of the kitchen bathroom.

    He was taken to Changi General Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

    In February, a coroner’s inquiry into his death found that he could have received the fatal electric shock when his left hand came into contact with an electrically energised metallic shower outlet hose that was attached to a water heater.

    On Thursday, State Coroner Marvin Bay said that no foul play was suspected and ruled that he sustained a fatal shock when he touched the energised hose.

    The likely fault was that there was an overheating of a socket outlet terminal, causing the metallic hose to be energised to a dangerous voltage. At the same time, there was also a fault in the residual current circuit breaker, a safety device which prevents electrocution by cutting off electricity supply once there is any leakage in the power circuit.

    Coroner Bay added that police are investigating taxi driver and freelance techninican Beh Kim Ek, who installed the water heater about three months earlier.

    Coroner Bay said: “The simple installation works undertaken by Mr Beh do not fulfil the strict definition of ‘electric works’ regulated by the Energy Market Authority.

    “This case underscores the importance of obtaining competent and qualified technicians when undertaking the installation of even simple electrical fittings in one’s own domicile and business premises.”

     

    Source :www.straitstimes.com