Vancouver Demolition Gone Wrong
Vancouver officials are investigating a building demolition in which two walls and a lamp collapsed onto the street, barely missing a flagperson and several cars.
Unfortunately, the incident, which occurred at 5:30 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon during a demolition being conducted by Global Excavation and Demolition, was caught on video, and several of the videos have gone viral on YouTube, raising questions about the company’s safety procedures. The company, however, claims the situation was “under control” and suggested that in any demolition, “sometimes things happen that are out of your control.” Karmjeet Singh Panesar, one of the owners of Global Excavation and Demolition, was apparently operating the crane at the time.
One video (see below), taken from a high angle, shows one wall of 1102 Hornby St. collapsing onto Helmcken Street. Seemingly undeterred, the operator continued to work, and proceeded to follow that up by knocking down an adjacent wall, part of which fell onto Hornby Street and took out a lamp post.
This is not their first incident. The company has received six compliance orders in the last three years, including one for an excavation. They currently have one other demolition permit for Vancouver, but that has been put on hold while city officials and WorkSafeBC review the company’s safety practices. The YouTube videos will be used as evidence in the investigation.
The company has promised to pay for replacement of the $4,000 lamp post.
Here is the video of the first collapse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKIZk4qAqKU
And here is the video of the second:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvWRKojULbo
Tags: Collisions, Due Diligence, health and safety training, heavy equipment safety, injury, Occupational Health and Safety Act, Safety, Worker Safety, Worker Training, workplace safety
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