A division director at the National Environment Agency (NEA) has been granted a discharge over an offence linked to the 2021 explosion at the Tuas Incineration Plant (TIP), which claimed the lives of two workers.
Christopher Lee Yew Binn, 52, who headed NEA’s waste infrastructure operations and management division at the time of the incident, had been charged under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA).
Without sharing details, an Attorney-General’s Chambers spokesperson told The Straits Times on Saturday, November 29, “After careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the matter, the prosecution has compounded the matter at the maximum sum of S$5,000, which Lee paid on (Nov 25).”
Compounding an offence allows a case to be settled out of court, usually through the payment of a monetary sum, without the accused admitting guilt or receiving a conviction. Such an option is offered solely at the prosecution’s discretion.
A spokesperson said that after the composition sum was paid, the court granted Lee a discharge amounting to an acquittal on Friday, November 28. This means he cannot be prosecuted again for the same offence.
On November 18, NEA was fined S$230,000 after pleading guilty to failing to take necessary measures to ensure the safety and health of its employees at the workplace.
Ng Wah Yong, a 56-year-old NEA officer who was TIP’s general manager at the time, was fined S$145,000 on November 20 after entering a guilty plea to one WSHA charge.
Following an investigation involving multiple agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower and the Singapore Civil Defence Force, NEA, Ng, and Lee were charged with workplace safety offences in December 2023.
Two NEA employees, Kwok Yeow Wai and Wee Eng Leng, were killed in the explosion on September 23, 2021. Engineer Low Yin Choon, a third worker, suffered severe injuries.
Kwok, Wee, and Low were inside an electrical switch room when the explosion happened after being dispatched to troubleshoot a problem.
At the scene, Kwok, 65, was declared dead. After being brought to the hospital with burn injuries, Wee, 64, and Low, 59, passed away three days later.
All three were senior employees of the plant’s electrical maintenance branch with more than 35 years of service, according to NEA’s statement following the incident.
District Judge Luke Tan concurred with the prosecution during NEA’s court appearance on November 18 that the explosion in 2021 was caused by three violations of work safety regulations.
These included failing to make sure the permit-to-work (PTW) system for high-voltage switchgear racking work complied with regulations; failing to provide workers at the facility with appropriate equipment, such as fire-retardant clothing; and failing to implement safe work practices.
Judge Tan dismissed the defense’s claims that a jammed piston and illegal live racking work were to blame for the arc flash explosion.
The judge rejected the claim that NEA was not at fault for the explosion, stating that the agency’s numerous shortcomings contributed to the circumstances that preceded the event.
At some point in 2018, Ng was appointed general manager of the TIP, with responsibilities including managing workplace safety and employee health at the plant.
The accusation he acknowledged centered on two significant shortcomings on his part as the plant’s general manager: neglecting to make sure the PTW system for high-voltage switchgear racking work complied with legal requirements and neglecting to set up safe working procedures for such operations.
Following the imposition of the fine, NEA said in a statement that it is accepting accountability for the deficiencies mentioned, including its PTW system, control measures, and safety protocols for high-voltage work at the plant.
After 36 years of operation, the agency planned to shut down the incinerator plant in February 2022. In July of that year, the facility was finally shut down.
Over the course of the plant’s years of operation, no additional fatal or serious workplace accidents occurred.
