KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 – Mass Rapid Transit Corp Sdn Bhd (MRT Corp) has cited insufficient supervision on site as among factors which led to the death of three Bangladeshi workers at the MRT construction site in Kota Damansara last month. Mohammad Alauddin Mollik, Mohammed Faruk Khan and Mohammad Elahi Hossain were working on the viaduct deck span when it fell, crushing the trio underneath on August 18. In releasing the report today, MRT Corp chief executive officer Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid said the investigation found the lack of shims had resulted in the span having limited stability and therefore, when parapets were installed on one side of the viaduct, it resulted in the viaduct deck span to topple.

“The viaduct had not been installed with permanent bearings. It was still supported on temporary jacks. Without shims supporting the viaduct while on temporary jacks, the viaduct deck span was unstable. “It subsequently toppled when weight started building up on one side when the parapets were installed,” he said in a statement today. Shims are metal boxes filled with grout which are placed on a pier head to support the viaduct while it is placed on temporary jacks during the construction process. Had shims been used, Azhar said the viaduct deck span would not have toppled even with parapets being installed on one side. The investigation on this fatal incident was conducted by MRT Corp and MMC Gamuda KVMRT (PDP) Sdn Bhd as project delivery partner.

The report also found several other factors causing the viaduct to topple, including lack of method statement for erection of parapets on viaducts for single tracks. The other factors are failure to identify risks and implement mitigation measures, failure to provide a comprehensive inspection and test plan, failure to communicate risks between various parties involved in the works, and poor sub-contractor management. Azhar said the report had also identified the personnel and the organisations, namely MMC Gamuda KVMRT, and Syarikat Muhibbah Perniagaan dan Pembinaan Sdn Bhd, the main contractor for Package V1 and their contractors to be responsible for this incident.

“Any legal action against those found responsible can only be taken by the government, based on the investigations carried out by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). “I believe DOSH’s findings from their investigation would be similar to our investigation findings,” he added. Besides the action by DOSH, he noted that MRT Corp would also be implementing several measures including removing individuals found to have been responsible for the incident from the project, blacklisting contractors and consultants found responsible, from future projects.

Other measures include reviewing method statements and work process flows, as well as review effectiveness on the Safety, Health and Environment Enforcement Unit. On August 18, at 8.30pm, a viaduct deck span of the MRT elevated guideway weighing 350 tonnes toppled from its piers and fell onto the ground below. The incident occurred at the MRT Project worksite within Package V1 inside the former Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia site near Kota Damansara. Following the incident, Azhar had announced his resignation as MRT Corp CEO but it was rejected by the board of directors.

Credit : The Malaysian Insider

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