BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Department of Occupation Safety and Health has issued a stop-work order at a factory upgrading project near Perai after a foreign construction worker fell to his death at the site on July 25.

It said in a statement that the 21-year-old worker slipped and fell from a height of 5.2 metres when installing the steps of a staircase at about 2 pm. He died in hospital two days later.

It also said that a team from the department initiated an investigation at the site and issued the stop-work order pending completion of the probe.

The department had instructed the employer to conduct an internal probe to identify the cause of the incident and work out improvement measures before presenting the case, it said in the statement.

“The department will conduct another investigation after obtaining the relevant documents and recording conversations from witnesses as well as a follow-up visit to the premises after the improvement and preventive measures have been taken,“ it said.