A supervisor who allowed an untrained worker to operate a forklift, resulting in the death of another worker, had his sentence raised from seven months to 11 months, following an appeal by the prosecution.

According to The Straits Times, Yeduvaka Mali Naidu was employed by Chye Joo Marine in 2013 to perform grit blasting and painting works at a shipyard.

He operated forklifts and supervised the work of other workers.

On 26 May 2019, he allowed untrained worker Shanmugam Sivarasu to operate a forklift at the shipyard.

Although the forklift had faulty brakes, workers had been using it to transfer spray painting equipment.

When Shanmugam attempted to raise the forks, he wrongly stepped on the accelerator, causing the forklift to crash through a guardrail. It fell onto a slipway, killing a 30-year-old Bangladeshi worker and injuring another worker who had been standing near the forklift.

Shanmugam was later jailed for 11 months after pleading guilty to operating the equipment without the right training, knowing that it had faulty brakes.

However, this week, Justice Vincent Hoong said the supervisor’s sentence by the district judge had been "manifestly inadequate" and raised it to 11 months' jail.