Health and Safety Executive issues details of accidents and fatalities for 2008/09.

First the good news. The number of people killed or injured at work in the UK during 2008/09 shows a marked decline on previous years.

But before we all head for the pub for a celebratory (yet safe) drink, here’s the bad news. Construction accounted for more than a third of all work-related deaths, 53 in all.

Now as someone whose primary interest is demolition, it would be nice to sit back and smile smugly at the fact that my sector has a far better safety record; and that the demolition industry’s adoption of mechanization and improved methods have largely consigned accidents and fatalities to the history books.

Sadly, due to what is either a quirk of statistics or a concerted effort to up construction’s average, the accident and fatality stats for demolition remain inexplicably mired within the construction figures. So while figures from the National Federation of Demolition Contractors membership continue to show a marked decline in both reportable accidents and fatalities, the general public continues to believe that all hard hat-wearing workers share the same reduced-life-expectancy-cum-death-wish.

The fact is that demolition remains a hazardous industry in which to work, and dangers and risks are ever present.

However, thanks to a concerted and ongoing training offensive, the sensible use of equipment and the development and adoption of ever-better work practices, it continues to set an example to its cousins in the construction industry.

Asbestos exposure on factory demolition leads to prosecutions and fines.

Recon Packaging Ltd, of Ashton-under-Lyne and Industrial & Commercial Building Services Ltd (ICBS) of Stockport have been ordered to pay £10k in fines and prosecution costs after ICBS employees came into contact with asbestos while demolishing part of the Recon Packaging recycling plant in early 2006. ICBS Managing Director, Kevin Bennett,was also fined £2k.

The building was severely damaged by fire in May 2005 and the building contained substantial amounts of asbestos. No site assessment was carried out, and ICBS was not licensed to remove asbestos.

Read the full story here.

Video interview with Ron Elliott of Pacific Blasting & Demolition.

Here is a video interview with Ron Elliott who runs Pacific Blasting and Demolition in British Columbia, a man who clearly knows his blasting. And yet, for some inexplicable reason, Ron seems strangely distracted.

We’re sure the attractiveness of the interviewer had nothing to do with it.

Coastal erosion leads to demolition of Kauhola Lighthouse.

The US Coast Guard has decided to demolish the Kauhola Lighthouse on the Big Island’s Kohala Coast because of eroding ground.

The Kauhola Lighthouse sits on a 1.4 hectare federal government property north of Hawi in the Kohala area of the Big Island and is in danger of falling down a steep cliff face if no action is taken.

Further details here.

The first of a series of implosions marks beginning of river bridge demolition.

Explosive charges were set off Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, to begin the process of demolition most of the Missouri River bridge at Miami, according to Missouri Department of Transportation officials.

Charges were placed along sections of the bridge to maximize clearance of the steel structure without damaging the concrete piers, according to a MoDOT news release. The piers will be used to support the new bridge once constructed.

Two subsequent implosions will take place over the coming weeks and can be viewed from the public river access area near the bridge, MoDOT officials said.

Read the full story here or watch the video below:

Nibco Foundry demolition begins later today in Dayton, Ohio.

The city of Dayton is gearing up for the next phase of redevelopment at the 12.5-acre Nibco Foundry site. On Wednesday, demolition of the remaining infrastructure will begin.

The city has secured $900,000 in Ohio Issue II funds in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Development to support demolition and site preparation. The project also will include removing contaminated soils and grading and seeding the property.

Dayton-based Charles F. Jergens Construction was awarded the work, with a low bid of $700,000. The work is expected to be finished in six months.

Read the full story here.

Partial collapse brings Niagra Falls building demolition to a halt.

Demolition of the old Rosbergs department store resumed Monday morning but ground to a halt hours later when an excavator fell through the floor into the basement.

A Komatsu excavator was working in the middle of the demolition site pulling steel girders out of the site. At around 2.45, the machine moved into what used to be the centre of the store’s first floor. There was a loud crack as the wooden floor gave way and the excavator sank slowly -one set of tracks on the first floor, the other mired in the basement.

Read the full story here.

Asbestos abatement official jailed for part in bid rigging scam.

A former head of the West Virginia Capitol’s asbestos abatement program was sentenced to a year in prison in federal court in Maryland last week.

Paul Prendergast, 47, of Gaithersburg, Md., pleaded guilty in October 2007 to violating the federal Travel Act by leaking confidential bidding information to Environmental and Demolition Services Inc. in Maryland.

The firm, which used other firms’ bid information to undercut its competitors and win multiple bids, rewarded Prendergast with thousands of dollars in kickbacks and a high-paid position with an associated company after he left West Virginia.

Read the full story here.

Demolition company buyer jailed for Deutsche Bank fraud.

A buyer with a company hired to take down a toxic ground zero skyscraper has been sentenced to 2½ to 7½ years in prison for billing the government for supplies never delivered.

Robert Chiarappa didn’t speak at his sentencing Tuesday. He pleaded guilty last month to grand larceny for a scheme involving $1.2 million in fake invoices for items supposedly ordered for dismantling the former Deutsche Bank building.

The now state-owned skyscraper was contaminated when the nearby twin towers collapsed.

Chiarappa was the purchasing agent for demolition contractor John Galt Corp. The firm was fired and charged with manslaughter after two firefighters died in a 2007 blaze at the building.

The company has denied responsibility for their deaths.

News of another US low bid could be good news in disguise.

When I first spotted the headline “Anderson OKs demolitions after surprise low bids“, I was struck with two immediate thoughts. The first was one of “oh no, not again” as it sounded like the latest in a long line of low bid stories in which city official throw a party while another demolition contractor barely scrapes a living. The second thought was “do we even bother reporting this” as I know we’re in serious danger of sounding like a broken record on this subject.

However, having read beyond the headline, it actually seems that – for once – a low bid has gone in for a good, forward-thinking and positive reason.

According to the article on the IndependentMail.com website, the reason that local demolition contractor J and J Specialties was able to submit such a low bid is because they plan to salvage some materials from the blighted homes and sell it.

The fact that the recycling of materials as a means of revenue generation still comes as a surprise is remarkable.

But on a day when we’ve reported that virtually the whole of the Executive Inn will wind up in a local landfill, this is one low bid that should be welcomed.