Pasir Ris rail accident
Tracks leading out of Pasir Ris station, where the accident took place. The accident occurred at the track switch in the distance.
Details
Date22 March 2016; 8 years ago (2016-03-22)
LocationNear Pasir Ris MRT station
CountrySingapore
LineEast West MRT Line
OperatorSMRT Trains
Incident typeCollision with track workers on track
CauseHuman error, failure to comply with safety procedures[1]
Statistics
Trains1 Kawasaki Heavy Industries C151
Deaths2 (SMRT staff)
Injured0

The Pasir Ris rail accident occurred on 22 March 2016 at the track switch near Pasir Ris station in Pasir Ris, Singapore on the East West line (EWL). A train ran over and killed two SMRT Trains track workers, Nasrulhudin Majumudin and Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, who were trainees and part of a team of 15 investigating a track point fault machine near the station.[2][3]

SMRT Trains and one member of SMRT management were charged for violating the Workplace Safety and Health Act for lapses that led to this accident,[4] and were fined $400,000 [3] and $55,000 [2] respectively. The SMRT engineer who led the track team at the scene of the accident was sacked by SMRT and later charged with negligence causing death under the Penal Code.[4] The SMRT engineer was subsequently sentenced to 4 weeks in jail.[5]

Incident

The incident occurred at 11:10 a.m. on 22 March 2016, when a team of 15 track personnel was deployed to a track switch near Pasir Ris station to investigate a high voltage alarm that indicated a possible track point fault.[6][7] The team walked on the side walkway beside the tracks in a single file towards the track point equipment. The two workers, Nasrulhudin Majumudin and Muhammad Asyraf Ahmad Buhari, were second and third in line.[7][8] Both were trainees in SMRT Trains and the task was part of their on-the-job training.[7][9] No speed restriction or ATC-code restriction was imposed on that section of track and there was no railway watchman to warn train captains of the presence of workers on track.[1][10] The train involved was on automatic mode and maintained a speed of 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph).[1]

The team had to cross over the third rail supplying trains power to access the signaling equipment. The team's supervisor, Majumudin and Buhari were already crossing over the rail when the senior officer in the team noticed the train and yelled "Train is coming! The train is coming!" The train driver noticed the track workers and applied the emergency brakes. However, the train struck both Majumudin and Buhari. Majumudin was crushed, while Buhari was flung to the track.[7] Both personnel suffered severe injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene. Service between Tanah Merah station and Pasir Ris was suspended as a result for more than two hours, affecting 10,000 commuters.[6]

Investigation

Investigations by SMRT Corporation revealed that there was no request to impose the safety code before the inspection team went on track to investigate the high voltage alarm.[5] The engineer did not liaise with the duty station manager on when to impose the safety code and hence did not impose the safety code before the team was supposed to leave the station platform. The inspection team walked to the work site instead of taking a designated train to send them there. A standard printed sign to warn train drivers that there are works in progress was not displayed but a handwritten sign was displayed with no indication of personnel working on track ahead.[5]

Aftermath

After an internal investigation, SMRT fired both the engineer who led the track team and the train driver and also disciplined the staff involved for their role in the incident. The firing of both employees attracted online controversy, with Singaporeans on social media questioning whether it was the right decision.[11] SMRT Trains, the director of control operations and the SMRT engineer who led the track team were charged for the incident.[12][13] Upon investigation, it was revealed that safety protocols were not implemented that would have prevented the train from entering the worksite.[14]

The engineer who led the inspection team was charged with negligence causing death under the Penal Code[4] and was subsequently sentenced to four weeks in jail.[5]

SMRT Trains and one member of SMRT management were charged for violating the Workplace Safety and Health Act for lapses which led to the accident, [4] and were fined $400,000 [3] and $55,000 [2] respectively.

In July 2018, SMRT was fined S$1.9 million by the LTA for the incident and the tunnel flooding incident at Bishan MRT Station.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c Tan, Christopher (26 April 2016). "Safety lapses cause of fatal accident: SMRT". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c Chong, Elena (29 September 2017). "SMRT Trains director of control operations fined $55,000 over fatal track accident". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Chong, Elena (28 February 2017). "SMRT Trains fined $400k for workplace safety lapse which resulted in two deaths". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d Ng, Kelly (2 December 2016). "SMRT charged over fatal accident". Today. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017. SMRT Trains and its director of control operations, Teo Wee Kiat, who is still employed by the company, were charged with failing to take necessary measures to ensure workers' safety under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA). Lim Say Heng, who was in charge of the work team that went onto the tracks that fateful day, was charged with causing death by a negligent act under the Penal Code.
  5. ^ a b c d Tan, Tam Mei (12 March 2018). "Engineer who led SMRT trainees onto tracks in 2016 fatal rail accident jailed for 4 weeks". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b "2 SMRT staff dead in accident near Pasir Ris station". Channel NewsAsia. 22 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d Seow, Bei Yi (24 March 2016). "SMRT track accident at Pasir Ris: Trainee barely escaped as best friend was killed". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  8. ^ Seow, Bei Yi; Lim, Adrian; Driscoll, Shea (22 March 2016). "SMRT accident: 2 men were part of group of 15 led by supervisor and walking facing oncoming train". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  9. ^ Lee, Min Kok; Seow, Beiyi; Lim, Adrian (22 March 2016). "2 SMRT staff killed in accident were Singaporeans aged 24 and 26 and undergoing on-the-job training". The Straits Times. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  10. ^ Paige, Vanessa (28 February 2017). "SMRT fined S$400,000 for safety lapses leading to fatal accident near Pasir Ris station". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Online flak for SMRT after sacking of 2 staff involved in Pasir Ris accident". Today. 14 September 2016. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  12. ^ Chong, Elena (2 December 2016). "SMRT, 2 others charged over fatal track accident". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  13. ^ "Backgrounder: What you need to know about the fatal SMRT accident in March". TODAYonline. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Records show procedures not fully followed in fatal accident: SMRT". TODAYonline. 23 March 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  15. ^ "LTA fines SMRT S$1.9m for fatal rail accident, tunnel flooding incident". Today. Retrieved 2 October 2023.

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