The family of grandfather who died after falling almost 30 feet from a platform at Longannet power station has received £1 million in damages. Gary Robertson, from Cowdenbeath, died from serious injuries in 2019 when working at the decommissioned power station. Brown and Mason were previously fined £5,000 after bosses admitted health and safety failings….Read moreRead more
Accident
£1.0 million in damages over fatal Longannet fall
Firm fined over Shannon incident
A demolition firm has been fined and one of its directors ordered to do 250 hours of unpaid work after a 20-year-old worker was crushed back in 2020. Ace Demolition Services Ltd had been contracted by Southend Borough Council to demolish Futures Community College, in Southchurch Boulevard, Southend-on-Sea. Shannon Brasier, who was 20 years old…Read moreRead more
What can we learn from the rail sector?
In the rail sector, an accident has been thoroughly investigated, findings published and recommendations announced in under a year. In the demolition industry, we have been waiting almost seven years to learn the cause of an accident that claimed the lives of four men. Why is there such a disparity?
Misinformation over death of demolition worker
A jury has concluded that demolition worker who died three weeks after breaking his leg at Ironbridge Power Station died from the “combined effects of an accident and natural causes”. But the jury of 10 men and women were unable to conclude how Paul Wilson had suffered a broken right tibia (shinbone) on Valentine’s Day…Read moreRead more
Access sector sets safety standard
The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has placed accident reporting at the very heart of its activities; and that information is now used to hep develop training. The global demolition industry would do well to follow the access industry’s lead.
Fatal accident on Esher demolition site
A 50-year old demolition worker has been killed in an incident on a site in Esher, Surrey. It is believed that the man was working for NFDC-member company, Rye Group. The incident took place on Thursday 29 September near the headquarters of Elmbridge Borough Council and roads in the area were initially closed in both…Read moreRead more
Fines of $1.2 million over demolition death
The demolition company involved in the fatal collapse at the Government Center in Boston faces almost $1.2 million in fines for “wilfully exposing workers to hazards”. A heavy equipment operator – 51-year old Peter Monsini – doing demolition on the eighth floor of the Government Center garage in downtown Boston died on March 26, 2022,…Read moreRead more
Opinion – The forgotten fatalities
Later this week, I am due to speak to the BBC yet again about the Didcot Power Station disaster that happened in February 2016. Unlike many of their colleagues in the wider media, the BBC thankfully hasn’t forgotten the incident that claimed the lives of four men on that fateful day. We are fast approaching…Read moreRead more
Massive compensation for injured worker
News portal Construction Enquirer is reporting that a worker who lost his leg during a demolition site accident has won a multimillion-pound compensation claim. Damien Bundock, 29, was crushed by machinery that weighed three tonnes when he was working on a demolition project in June 2017 for construction firm S Walsh & Sons at a…Read moreRead more
Comment – The scales of justice are imbalanced
The life of a roofer is worth 27 times that of a demolition worker. That is surely the implication of a pair of recent fatal accident prosecutions: in the case of a roofer, the fine levied against the company involved was £135,000. In the case of the demolition worker, the fine was just £5,000. I…Read moreRead more
