https://www.hcamag.com/asia/specialisation/employment-law/singapore-airlines-faces-injured-flight-attendants-claim-defends-safety-training/510587
Flight attendant says there were hazardous conditions in the work area
22 Oct 2024
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The General Division of Singapore's High Court recently dealt with a case involving a worker who sought damages for injuries sustained during his employment with a major company.
The worker claimed that his injuries resulted from his employer's failure to provide a safe workplace and system of work. He argued that a hazardous condition in his work area led to his fall and subsequent injuries, preventing him from continuing in his role.
This case brought to light important questions about workplace safety, the extent of an employer's duty of care, and what constitutes reasonable safety measures in a challenging work environment.
The incident at the heart of this case occurred on 6 September 2019, when a flight attendant from Singapore Airlines fell in the galley of an aircraft during a long-haul flight from San Francisco to Singapore.
The flight, SQ 31, was scheduled to take off from San Francisco at 11.25am on 5 September 2019 (San Francisco time) or 2.25am on 6 September 2019 (Singapore time). It was scheduled to land in Singapore at 7.10pm on 6 September 2019 (Singapore time), with a total flight time of about 16¾ hours.
The worker, a Malaysian citizen born in June 1988, was 31 at the time of the incident and 35 at the time of trial in 2024. He claimed he slipped on a greasy or slippery area on the floor, resulting in injuries and disabilities that prevented him from continuing his work as a flight attendant.
Singapore Airlines acknowledged that the worker had fallen but denied any breach of duty of care. They disputed the existence of a slippery area on the floor and argued that the fall had not caused the worker's claimed disabilities.
The worker had been employed by the airline since 11 April 2016 as a flight attendant on a five-year contract at a salary of $6,058 per month. Unfortunately, his experience with the airline had not been smooth. Prior to this incident, he had suffered six other workplace injuries between April 2017 and April 2019, ranging from minor bruises to injuries requiring surgery.
The aircraft assigned to the flight was an Airbus A350, with a cabin crew of 13 members. The worker was assigned the "C2" position, also known as the "galley steward".
His duties included using both aisles of the aircraft as well as the galley to perform his tasks, securing all items in the galley, and ensuring that the galley was dry and clean.
The court examined what constitutes a reasonable standard of care for employers. The judge referred to established legal principles, noting that an employer must take the same care for its employees' safety as would be expected of a reasonable and prudent employer.
The court cited a key passage from a previous case: