Periyasamy Vivek, 34-years-old, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing grievous hurt via a negligent action endangering human life.
The India national was sentenced on 6 July to 2 weeks jail.
What happened?
The incident happened at a worksite in Tuas South Boulevard on 23 March 2020.
Vivek was working as a supervisor for Sembcorp Marine.
He was tasked to move concrete blocks of about 5,000kg each using a forklift.
He loaded a concrete block and some wooden wedges onto the forklift and reversed the vehicle, before realising that he would hit some paint cans if he continued reversing.
He then decided to drive forward.
It is worth highlighting that as part of their SOPs, if his line of sight in front was impeded, he had to stop and drive in reverse.
Vivek drove forward despite having his vision blocked by the load.
The victim, Mr Sevugaperumal Balamurugan, was on his way to the toilet when he noticed the forklift moving slowly.
The vehicle then picked up speed and he was hit on his left hip by the concrete block, causing him to fall backwards.
Vivek then braked but the forklift was unable to stop immediately due to the wright of the cargo it was carrying.
The forklift ran over the victim’s legs.
He was conveyed to hospital with multiple fractures to his lower limbs, where he ended up having his legs amputated above the knees.
Images source: Unsplash and My Prince George Now (Images used for illustration purposes only)