Singapore's Supreme Court has awarded an Indian national a record US$178,000 for injuries he sustained after falling ten metres inside a container vessel hatch.
The payout, to former contracting stevedore Chandran Subbiah, exceeds the cap permitted under the city-state's Workmen Compensation Act, which only allows claims for up to US$99,000.
At the time of the incident, Mr Subbiah was working for Dockers Marine, Singaporean newspaper, the Straits Times reported.
Mr Subbiah sustained severe head, eye and hand injuries as a result of the accident on October 18, 2005, after a ladder he was on suddenly detached itself, hurtling him some ten metres into the cargo hold area in the vessel.
Despite not wearing a safety harness at the time of the accident, the three-judge court did not absolve Mr Subbiah's employers of blame saying: "An employer cannot wash his hands of all responsibility for worker safety simply because their employees are sent to work at a site controlled by others".
The ruling now means that employers will continue to be responsible for the safety of their employees if accidents happen on third-party premises, the news report added.
Jaya Prakash
