Demolition crews take out telephone lines in Brookline.
Excess noise, vibration, dust and vehicle movements are just some of the numerous reasons for the public to complain about demolition works.
But one Massachusets demolition crew has apparently found a novel way of heading off demolition-related complaints; simply rip open the cable line serving 350 nearby homes and leave residents without a telephone line.
Click here for the full details.
Safedem’s William Sinclair explains how he is addressing drug abuse in the workplace.
Several months ago, Demolition News produced an audio podcast featuring Building Health‘s Nichola Elvy discussing the potentially explosive issue of drugs use in the demolition workplace. That podcast, the most downloaded on our iTunes area, led to a great deal of debate and discussion.
Fresh from winning both the Demolition Company of the Year and Explosive Demolition trophies at the inaugural Demolition Awards in Amsterdam last weekend, Safedem managing director William Sinclair explains how his company went about tackling this highly contentious issue:
When I first wanted to introduce drug testing at Safedem, I firmly believed I was acting responsibly; after all demolition is a safety critical activity and everyone knows drugs can effect performance, reaction time, etc.
However, I was quickly advised by my personnel department that I could not introduce blanket drug testing in one swoop. First we would have to rewrite the Company Handbook and Terms of Employment. We would then need to consult with all the staff, and take on board any concerns – a process that took literally months – before giving Building Health the green light to proceed.
Whilst this consultation was ongoing, I was informed that under Section 8 of the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1971 an employer who knowingly permits drugs to be used in the workplace could face prosecution. Now hold on – I was not aware of any use, let alone misuse! All this was becoming a can of worms.
I was also advised that I was likely to face an employment tribunal if we dismissed an employee following a failed drug test.
Furthermore the Human Rights Act 1998 and Data Protection Act 1998 affords individuals the ‘right to respect for their private and family life’ and also places limits on the processing of personal data.
What seemed a great initiative was fast becoming more hassle than it was worth? But as a responsible employer in the demolition industry, I wanted to ensure I had done all I could to ensure a safer workplace, so we pressed on.
We referred to an Independent Enquiry on Drug Testing at Work which stated that intoxication will be a risk factor in a safety critical environment although it is not the only source of risk. The enquiry document concludes that drug testing is no substitute for training, good management and consultation with the workforce.
So with drug testing information coming out of my ears what did we do?
Below is a quick summary and principle of what we have applied to date:
1. Demolition is a safety critical activity
2. Drugs are present in all parts of society
3. Consult with the workforce, let them know why we intend to drug test ( for their safety and the safety of their work mates)
4. Introduce a random drug testing programme (You cannot persistently test one particular individual)
5. Offer and give support and advice to any employees who fail a drugs test.
6. Introduce the topic of drugs in the work place within all aspects of training and promote a drug free culture at work.
7. If an employee continually fails a drug test – and their performance is being impaired by drug use and they are therefore jeapordising safety standards on site – lay it on the line – their employment will be terminated.
And the results after introducing drug testing ? One employee tested positive to cannabis use which can apparently stay in your system for weeks.
Is it more hassle than it’s worth? At the outset I must say I have thought so.
But now we have the systems and procedures in place I know I have taken another step to ensuring I have helped create a safer demolition workplace.
Demolition delays could serve as economic wet blanket, attorney warns.
A state Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order Tuesday barring demolition of two Washington Avenue buildings near the Capitol as the Historic Albany Foundation started a legal effort to save them.
But an attorney for the Fort Orange Club, the 129-year-old Washington Avenue landmark that hopes to use the space for additional parking, dismissed the significance of the order, noting the private club has no plans of razing the buildings until its own dispute with the city is resolved.
The club sued the city Friday after officials declined to immediately issue a demolition permit and instead forwarded its request to the Planning Board. Without a permit, the club cannot legally tear down the 19th-century office buildings at 118-120 Washington Ave. Hours after the order, the Common Council’s planning committee unanimously forwarded the ordinance – which would require Planning Board review of all non-emergency demolitions not in historic districts – to the full council for passage on Monday.
But the committee’s approval came with an amendment that would also impose a moratorium on all non-emergency demolitions between the date of the ordinance’s passage and the date it becomes effective, 30 days later.
An attorney for the club, however, warned lawmakers that the proposed ordinance is not only illegal under state law but would act as a wet blanket to economic development at a time when the city can ill afford it. “This is a heck of a thing in this economy and in this city to be doing something like that,” the attorney Bob Sweeney told the committee.
Read the full story here.
Protestor who delayed demolition of Bowstring Bridge charged with trespass.
A woman who chained herself to a derelict Victorian bridge in Leicester in a bid to stop its demolition has been charged with aggravated trespass.
All work was stopped when a 39-year-old woman climbed up Bowstring Bridge in the city’s West End at about 0600 GMT on Monday.
She ended her protest voluntarily after almost 12 hours and was brought down to safety by police officers.
Further details here.spass.
A fatal building collapse and an unexplained fire serve as timely reminder of demolition risks.
Yesterday was a bad day for the demolition world. First came the news that five people had died in a building collapse in China; this was followed by an as-yet unexplained blaze at a site in British Columbia.
Five people died and four were injured after a building collapsed during demolition in Luoyang City, central China’s Henan Province, on Monday, according to the municipal government. The four injured were stable in hospital, according to a statement from the city government Tuesday.
Yonggang Road Construction Co Ltd was demolishing a residential building which used to house worker families of China Luoyang Float Glass Group when the accident occurred at 5:45 pm Monday. Further details here.
Meanwhile, Vancouver firefighters battled a fire at the Little Mountain social housing complex in Vancouver on Tuesday night. The fire broke out just before 6 p.m. at the site at Main Street and east 33rd Avenue, where demolition crews have been working as part of a controversial redevelopment project.
There were no reports of injuries, and no word yet on what might have started the fire.
Further details here.
Rotting New York bridge set to be torn down.
The 80-year-old Champlain Bridge, closed suddenly last month after the state found the concrete piers were rotting, is on the verge of collapse and too far gone to be saved, officials in New York and Vermont said Monday.
There is “no choice but to tear down the dangerously deteriorated bridge” and replace it, said Gov. David Paterson.
The state Department of Transportation has released no budget for a new bridge, although the office of state Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, has indicated the project could cost $50 million.
Read the full story here.
£8,000 fine imposed upon LA Moore over illegal burial of fuel tanker.
UK-based LA Moore has been fined more than £8,000 after pleading guilty over the illegal burial of a contaminated fuel tanker.
The company was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £5,235 costs after pleading guilty at Yeovil magistrates court. The court heard the site near Wells where the tanker was buried lies within a groundwater protection zone and supplies water to nearby houses.
When the tanker was dug up it was found to have serious damage and had leaked.
Further details here.
With environmental problems addressed, demolition of Reunion Arena nears its conclusion.
The final parts of Dallas’ Reunion Arena are scheduled to come down next month, according to reports from Dallas News. The project’s completion has been delayed twice because of complications in the demolition process.
In August, the city announced a three-month delay after the discovery of Styrofoam insulation in the arena’s upper decks. The additional work, approved by the City Council, cost nearly $50,000. Asbestos was discovered in the arena’s lower-level retaining walls in September, the clean up costing a further $450,000, taking the total costs to more than $2.5 million. The demolition originally was to cost just over $2 million and be finished by November.
Appointed demolition contractor A&R Demolition plans to demolish the roof over a two-week period. Completion of the entire project, which includes leveling the site and making it a grassy field, is expected by March 2010.
Read the full story here.
A San Diego demolition contractor is offering local residents discount vouchers.
In what is either a brilliantly innovative marketing ploy or the desperate act of an industry in turmoil, a San Diego-based demolition contractor is offering local residents coupons that afford them with a 10% discount on the company’s demolition services.
The intriguingly-named Dr Demo is making the offer online, but it is not available for commercial demolition work. Apparently, this is one doctor that IS happy to make house calls.
More details can be found here.
Demolition in Pennsylvania to open neighbouring structure to elements. But that’s OK.
Ford City Borough Council in Pennsylvania passed a resolution last night to have Tom Sipes Demolition tear down the now infamous Building 228 in the Eljer/PPG complex at no cost to the borough. The centre of the debate came because the building is structurally connected to property owned by a Mr Dennis Tiche.
When the demolition was bid last April, Senate Engineering had compiled a list of specifications demolition companies were required to follow. Once the Borough’s part of the building is demolished, it will leave an opening in Tiche’s part of the building. Senate specified a wall to be erected to close off Tiche’s section and maintain the integrity of the structure. The agreement with Sipes does not include the same requirement.
Click here for the full story.
