A foreign (Tamil) worker has sought compensation from his employer after he fell off the back of a 12 feet tall truck in singapore on january 3, 2021. The complaint filed by the tamil Nadu worker against Rigel Marine services Pte Ltd, a company that repairs ships, tankers and other sea-going vehicles, was heard on august 7 before district Judge Don May Dee. Ramalingam Murugan, a tamil Nadu worker, was employed as a ship painter at Regal Marine services in Singapore. It was in this context that on 3 january 2021, Ramalingam was taken to work at Rigel Marine services at 11A Ju Yee Road, Taman Jurong with 24 workers on the back of a 12ft high lorry from his accommodation.
At Regal Marine services, he said he and other workers disembarked, were transferred to another truck, and were ready to go to their work site. He also said that when the truck arrived, it was raining heavily, so the workers quickly threw themselves into the truck to take a seat in the front of the truck so as not to get wet in the rain. As the back doors of the lorry were not opened, Ramalingam tried to climb up by holding the back board with both his hands. While it was raining heavily, he fell from the top of the tall lorry when the staff standing behind unexpectedly pushed him as he climbed into the lorry with the back doors not open.
In this, he got a serious injury on his leg and swelling in his leg, immediately the nearby staff admitted him to the hospital. Doctors operated on him for the fracture and said he will be on medical leave from january 3 to june 2, 2021. But Ramalingam claimed that the negligence of Regal Marine services or their dereliction of duty was the cause of his accident. But Regal Marine services completely denied Ramalingam's claim, saying that his negligence was the cause of the accident. Further, the company also highlighted the medical expenses paid on behalf of Ramalingam and the medical leave pay given to Ramalingam. But the verdict was in favor of the worker Ramalingam, saying that the company is responsible for all the security of an employee.
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