Suffering siblings: Janaed (right) is now a quadriplegic. His brother Jahid was also injured in a fall while working. — The Straits Times/ANN
FOUR and a half years after a Bangladeshi worker was paralysed from the neck down after a 3.7m- high fall at a worksite in Singapore, he has been awarded S$971,000 (RM3.2mil) in damages from the subsidiary management corporation (MCST) of Westgate Tower.
Janaed, who goes by one name and is now 47, had spinal injuries after he fell while inspecting an overhead chiller in the mechanical and electrical room at Westgate Tower in Jurong East on Nov 8, 2018.
His formal employer, Newtec Engineering, faces charges for not having the required insurance for him and not paying his medical bills.
Part of the agreed-upon compensation will go towards paying S$149,281.20 (RM498,807) to the National University Hospital (NUH) and S$58,081.09 (RM194,072) to Alexandra Hospital, as stated in a court judgment dated Feb 10.
Janaed, who is now in Bangladesh, spent 91 days at NUH and 152 days at Alexandra Hospital.
He had been engaged by STA Rita Engineering Services, an air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation services company, to inspect the chiller at Westgate Tower.
He used a fireman’s ladder to climb to the top of the chiller. While standing on top of it, he used his mobile phone to take photos of one of the switches.
He held his phone in one hand and used his other hand to zoom in for a close-up photo of the flow switch before he fell.
There were no guard rails at the top of the chiller and Janaed did not use any safety harness or belt.
He sued four parties in the High Court for negligence: Newtec Engineering; Felizardo Paras Jose, Janaed’s de facto employer and owner of STA Rita Engineering Services; the MCST responsible for the maintenance of Westgate Tower; and the main contractor hired to do air-conditioning and ventilation works for Westgate Tower, Zoe International.Zoe International subcontracted part or all of its work to STA Rita Engineering Services.
The Court of Appeal in June 2022 dismissed the appeal by the MCST over its joint 70% liability with subcontractor STA Rita Engineering Services for the negligence that caused the mishap.
Janaed, who also appealed, failed to reduce the High Court’s finding in August 2021 that he was 30% to blame for the incident.
A separate lawsuit filed by his brother Jahid, 43, is ongoing.
Jahid, who is also in Bangladesh, had leg injuries after he fell over 3m while doing air-conditioning maintenance work at a Starbucks outlet at a mall on April 7, 2018.
He sued Jose, Zoe International, Starbucks Coffee Singapore and UOL Property Investments in October 2019. A district court in July 2022 found all four defendants 70% liable for negligence and Jahid 30% liable. — The Straits Times/ANN
