Singapore slaps fine on Shell for safety lapse

20 July 2007 04:54  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The Singapore court has fined Shell Eastern Petroleum Singapore dollar (S$) 25,000 ($16,556) on Thursday for a safety lapse at its refinery which caused the death of a refinery worker.

A company representative pleaded guilty to the charge under the Factories Act.

The deceased suffered serious chemical burns during an accident at Shell’s plant in Pulau Bukom/Pulau Ular on 25 October 2005, and died.

The prosecutor from the Ministry of Manpower said the accident could have been prevented if sufficient safe work procedures had been implemented.

The company could have been fined up to S$50,000.

"This was a tragic accident and we regret deeply the loss of our colleague’s life, Shell said in a statement.

"Safety has always been and remains our top priority.  We have learnt from the accident and looked into our processes more critically, to make them even more detailed and robust," it added.

($1 = S$1.51)

By: Jeanne Lim
+65 6780 4359

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