Employer fined after maid fell to death
SINGAPORE: The employer of a foreign
domestic helper who fell from height and died, has been slapped
with a maximum fine of S$5,000.
Forty-six-year-old Gan Hui Leung pleaded guilty on Thursday to
one charge of failing to ensure her then-domestic helper, Ms Siti
Ustima, performed her duties in a safe manner during the term of
employment.
Court documents showed Ms Siti had worked for Gan from April
2010 to November 2011.
Under Gan’s employment, one of the deceased’s duties was to
clean the living room windows of the Clementi flat, which is on the
fifth floor.
Although she has seen her Indonesian helper clean windows while
standing on a stool with the grilles and windows open, Gan never
stopped the maid or taught her a safer method of doing her
work.
On November 11 last year at about 1pm, Ms Siti was seen cleaning
the living room windows while standing on a chair.
Shortly after, there was a loud noise and she was found lying at
the foot of the block of flats.
Ms Siti sustained multiple injuries from the fall and died.
For her failure to ensure her helper worked in a manner that did
not endanger her life, Gan could have been jailed up to six months,
fined S$5,000, or both.
In submissions, the prosecution urged the district judge to
order the maximum fine to send a deterrent message to employers of
foreign maids.
This is especially so, given the high number of incidences over
the past four months.
Between January and April, eight foreign maids fell to their
deaths while performing their duties.
Of these, five stemmed from cleaning windows.
But Gan’s lawyer argued there had not been any specific
instruction from his client, for Ms Siti to clean the outer surface
of the windows.
The lawyer added that Gan “accepts full responsibility and is
deeply remorseful”.
To this, the prosecution stressed that while Gan did not give
specific instructions for the helper to clean the outside of the
windows, she failed to ensure and instruct safe practices.
- CNA/wk
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i doubt employers themselves know of a safe way to clean the
windows.
btw, i feel the family of the deceased should be compensated
too.
