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Close shave for woman as three ceiling beams fall 3 floors in Far East Plaza

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https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/close-shave-for-woman-as-three-ceiling-beams-fall-3-floors-in-far-east-plaza

Close shave for woman as three ceiling beams fall 3 floors in Far East Plaza

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The mall's contractor is expected to carry out repairs on the trellis on Aug 10 evening. ST PHOTO: SHABANA BEGUM

Shabana Begum

PUBLISHED 10 AUG 2022, 9:20 PM SGT

SINGAPORE - A woman in Far East Plaza had a narrow escape when three long wooden beams broke from the high ceiling and landed on the second-floor concourse on Wednesday morning (Aug 10).

She was sitting on a red bench at the edge of the concourse when the grey beams crashed onto the floor mere metres from her.

An employee of a tailor shop next to the concourse said he rushed out when he heard a loud crash and saw the woman hurrying away.

She was the only person in the concourse when the incident occurred around 9.45am, said the employee who wanted to be known only as Mr Eric.

"Luckily, the incident happened early in the morning. If there had been more footfall, someone could have got badly hurt," he said, adding that most shops in the Orchard mall open after 10am.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Far East Plaza management said the incident happened when a technician was about to lower the high bay lights from the ceiling to replace a faulty lamp.

He inadvertently reversed the direction of the winch, or lifting device, which caused the light fitting to move towards the ceiling trellis.

"The impact caused three pieces of trellis to dislodge and fall from level five to level two. A lady was at the concourse at the time. Fortunately, nobody was injured," the mall's management said in its e-mail reply, adding that the concourse was immediately cordoned off.

The mall's contractor is expected to carry out repairs on the trellis after the mall closed on Wednesday evening. The concourse will reopen after a thorough inspection, said Far East Plaza's management.

When ST visited the strata mall at 3.30pm, the concourse had been fenced off with barriers circling the red bench.

There was a gap in the level five ceiling above the bench, and one beam seemed to be hanging after being partially dislodged.

The normally quiet morning of retailers and workers - especially those from cafes and coffee shops that had opened before 9am - was jolted by the loud sound of the beams hitting the ground.

A number of people from the third to fifth storeys rushed out of their shops to check the commotion, said Mr Eric.

A worker, known only as Mr Lim, at Isle Cafe coffee shop next to the concourse said he saw some mall employees rush to clear the debris and fence off the area.

Mr Eric said this is the second incident in Far East Plaza recently. On July 10, two glass panels fell to the floor below after a shopper kicked them. No one was injured.

"The area was cordoned off and the glass shards were swept away," he said.

One of Singapore's oldest shopping complexes, Far East Plaza was opened in 1982.

 

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Victor68

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Timely for BCA to conduct inspection for older shopping malls and buildings. Especially those with stone finishes cladding on the walls and Ceiling. 

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inlinesix

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"In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Far East Plaza management said the incident happened when a technician was about to lower the high bay lights from the ceiling to replace a faulty lamp.

He inadvertently reversed the direction of the winch, or lifting device, which caused the light fitting to move towards the ceiling trellis.

"The impact caused three pieces of trellis to dislodge and fall from level five to level two. A lady was at the concourse at the time. Fortunately, nobody was injured," the mall's management said in its e-mail reply, adding that the concourse was immediately cordoned off."

Looks like somebody at fault

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Victor68

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  On 8/11/2022 at 4:09 AM, inlinesix said:

"In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Far East Plaza management said the incident happened when a technician was about to lower the high bay lights from the ceiling to replace a faulty lamp.

He inadvertently reversed the direction of the winch, or lifting device, which caused the light fitting to move towards the ceiling trellis.

"The impact caused three pieces of trellis to dislodge and fall from level five to level two. A lady was at the concourse at the time. Fortunately, nobody was injured," the mall's management said in its e-mail reply, adding that the concourse was immediately cordoned off."

Looks like somebody at fault

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Wow, surprise they release such a statement. When you have such major overhead works, don't you cordon off below? In fact it should be done during off operation. 

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DOBIEMKZ

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  On 8/11/2022 at 4:09 AM, inlinesix said:

"In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Far East Plaza management said the incident happened when a technician was about to lower the high bay lights from the ceiling to replace a faulty lamp.

He inadvertently reversed the direction of the winch, or lifting device, which caused the light fitting to move towards the ceiling trellis.

"The impact caused three pieces of trellis to dislodge and fall from level five to level two. A lady was at the concourse at the time. Fortunately, nobody was injured," the mall's management said in its e-mail reply, adding that the concourse was immediately cordoned off."

Looks like somebody at fault

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Yes. Work areas should always be cordoned off. What's more that this was a ceiling work and dislodged or fallen debris are a serious hazard.
But sometimes in some maintenance works, the maintenance supervisors think that those are just plug-and-play kind of tasks and get complacent in safety protocol.

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inlinesix

inlinesix

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  On 8/11/2022 at 4:22 AM, Victor68 said:

Wow, surprise they release such a statement. When you have such major overhead works, don't you cordon off below? In fact it should be done during off operation. 

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The reply does not looks like it had been vetted.

 

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Playtime

Playtime

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  On 8/11/2022 at 4:22 AM, Victor68 said:

Wow, surprise they release such a statement. When you have such major overhead works, don't you cordon off below? In fact it should be done during off operation. 

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Brilliant move... officially blame the technician let him hang, senior management is safu... good potential. 

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13177

13177

Hypersonic
  On 8/11/2022 at 4:49 AM, Mkl22 said:

Lax standards with workers from countries with heck care attitudes. 

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Maybe thats why you see many shoddy work done nowadays, and also workplace injuries and fatalities rate are high?!

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Windwaver

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  On 8/11/2022 at 3:56 AM, Victor68 said:

Timely for BCA to conduct inspection for older shopping malls and buildings. Especially those with stone finishes cladding on the walls and Ceiling. 

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Oh my and it's supposed to last 99 years :grin:

Can't imagine if the beams give way after 10am.

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