Singapore, Jun 23 (PTI) A 32-year-old Indian worker died after he was crushed between parts of a mobile crane at a construction site here, officials said on Thursday.

The "workplace accident" happened at 1 Mandai Quarry Road at around 10.15 am on Wednesday, they said.

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The Indian worker, who was an employee of Hwa Yang Engineering, was retrieving two shackles from a toolbox underneath the chassis of a mobile crane when the crane turned clockwise. “His chest was crushed between the crane counterweights and the crane undercarriage,” the Channel News Asia quoted a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesperson as saying.

The man was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where he died from his injuries, the spokesperson said, without revealing the person's name.

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This was the 27th workplace fatality so far in Singapore this year. There were a total of 37 workplace deaths for the whole of 2021, according to the Channel report.

There were 10 deaths in April alone.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last month that workplace fatalities were "not acceptable" and had called on all parties to "put this right".

Lee noted that with the reopening of the economy and more work and social activities resuming, “safety standards and practices seem to have slipped” and accident rates are going up.

Starting from June 14, companies with poor workplace safety and health performance would face harsher penalties, MOM said last week.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)