The director of Singapore-based Stars Engrg Pte Ltd has been sentenced to more than 18 months in prison following a fatal workplace explosion at the company's Tuas facility in 2021 that killed three workers and injured seven others.
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said Chua Xing Da, director of Stars Engrg, was sentenced to 18 months and one week of imprisonment for offences under the Workplace Safety and Health Act (WSHA) and for abetting the obstruction of justice under the Penal Code.
Stars Engrg was separately fined a total of S$500,000 for workplace safety offences related to the incident, while the company's Production Manager, Lwin Moe Tun, was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for obstructing the course of justice.
The explosion occurred on February 24, 2021, while workers were manufacturing fire-retardant wraps using a heated mixer machine at the company's Tuas worksite. The incident claimed the lives of workers Shohel Md, Anisuzzaman Md and Subbaiyan Marimuthu, and left seven others injured.
According to MOM's investigations, the mixer machine had been operated under unsafe conditions for an extended period despite repeated warning signs, including overheating, oil leaks, smoke emissions and an earlier fire shortly before the fatal explosion. These conditions allowed pressure to build up inside the machine, ultimately triggering the blast.
The ministry identified multiple workplace safety failures, including inadequate risk assessments, poor machine maintenance, insufficient supervision and the absence of safe work procedures. Workers were also not properly trained to operate and maintain the equipment safely.
Investigators further found that after the explosion, Lwin Moe Tun, acting on Chua's instructions, deleted messages exchanged with one of the deceased workers concerning a faulty heater on the mixer machine shortly before the incident. MOM said the deleted messages were significant to its investigation into the fatal workplace accident.
Following the incident, MOM convened an Inquiry Committee, which concluded that the explosion was preventable and resulted from serious failures in the operation and maintenance of the mixer machine despite repeated warning signs. The committee also found inadequate controls for combustible powders at the worksite, which contributed to secondary flash fires after the explosion.
The inquiry's recommendations were fully accepted by the government. In November 2024, Singapore's Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce announced enhanced safety requirements for higher-risk machinery and combustible dust hazards, which came into force on January 1, 2025.
The measures expanded regulatory requirements across the machinery supply chain and introduced stricter obligations for identifying and managing combustible dust risks.
Commenting on the sentencing, Commissioner for Workplace Safety and Health Silas Sng said companies and their officers must act immediately when safety risks emerge.
"In this case, repeated red flags and unsafe practices were not addressed, resulting in a preventable tragedy that claimed three lives and injured seven others," he said.
Sng added that workplace safety responsibilities extend beyond frontline workers to company leaders and decision-makers, warning that MOM will continue taking firm enforcement action against employers who fail to protect workers or attempt to obstruct investigations into workplace incidents.