Hin's story: A work journey that cost his leg

A work journey that cost his leg
Hin was only 22 when he arrived in Singapore to support his family. He had been employed as a general worker by a company that provided boat services on harbour craft* to other, larger vessels. 

Just months into his arrival, Hin’s young life would be changed forever by a devastating accident.

One windy evening, Hin was carrying out refuelling. He was instructed to unmoor his boat from a bunkering vessel by casting off the mooring line that was used to secure his boat to the bunkering vessel. 

The seas were choppy and rough. Both Hin’s harbour craft and the bunkering vessel were rolling. 

When the mooring lines were cast off, Hin’s colleague who was piloting the boat started to move off. But one end of the rope was caught in the harbour craft’s fender. Hin shouted to his colleague that he was not ready to move, but his “no” (indicating that the harbour craft was not ready to move) was misheard as “yes”. The boat started to move despite Hin’s attempts to communicate to his colleague not to do so.

At the same time, and unbeknownst to Hin, his calf was caught in a coil of the mooring line. As the boat pulled away, with the far end of the rope stuck, the coil tightened forcefully around his leg. Hin’s lower leg was severed by the mooring line and fell into the sea. Through this horrifying workplace accident, Hin forever lost one of his limbs.

HOME was called for help while Hin was in hospital. HOME assisted Hin in his work injury compensation process and helped him get legal advice. Eventually, he received his work injury compensation. He was fitted with a prosthetic leg and returned home to his family. 

Lack of adequate training

Hin told HOME that he was provided no formal training for manning the harbour craft or any of the operations that he would be carrying out on board. He was only given a handover briefing on his first day of work. This was despite the fact that he was tasked not only to carry out general duties like cleaning and cooking, but also technical tasks like mooring operations. 

The company also did not provide any special precautions to follow during bad weather conditions. Communication equipment like walkie-talkies were not provided for situations when it was hard to hear. 

Harbour craft workers such as Hin endure tough working conditions. They have long working hours, which may also have contributed to the crew’s inattentiveness in checking that all was clear before moving. Hin told us his typical work day was 15 to 18 hours and sometimes they worked round the clock. They are also exposed to hazardous conditions, such as rough weather. 

Recommendations
Strong labour protections are crucial in ensuring their safety and dignity. HOME recommends: 

  • The Ministry of Manpower and the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore should coordinate safety training requirements for all harbour craft workers, and ensure that they receive comprehensive training for all their duties that they will perform on board. Safety standards specific to harbour craft workers should also form part of the Workplace Health and Safety Act; 

  • Harbour craft workers should be given mandatory training of the required skills and be issued licences to work after they have completed these courses. Employers who flout these rules should be taken to task, and affected workers should be allowed to change jobs; and 

  • Regular, protected and anonymised interviews should be conducted with harbour craft workers to ensure that safety standards are being adhered to.  

* A harbour craft is a vessel that operates only within the waters of Singapore.

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