The incident at Pasir Panjang Terminal 3 resulted in the injury of a 37-year-old forklift operator, who was conveyed to the National University Hospital while still alert. The operator suffered minor head and body wounds and is currently hospitalized in stable condition.

In response to the accident, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower has mandated a temporary halt to the handling of empty containers pending an investigation. Additionally, the ministry has directed PSA Singapore to implement a safety pause in its operations, requiring the port authority to cease its regular activities temporarily to assess and examine its occupational safety and health measures and operational procedures.

The ministry said: “As a general safety measure, containers need to be properly stacked according to the acceptable pattern and maximum height to prevent toppling.”

The Singapore Civil Defence Force reported that they got a distress call at approximately 6.55 am local time and dispatched an ambulance to the location.

Video surveillance of the mishap spread across social media platforms, depicting the forklift in the process of hoisting a container.

During the forklift’s retreat, a stack of five containers toppled, with one of the containers crashing onto the forklift’s cab. The force of the impact caused the cab to tip backwards, and shortly thereafter, the operator was thrown to the ground.

Typically, forklifts are used to manage empty containers, whereas loaded containers are handled by crane operations.