Construction Safety – One Worker Dead
April 24th, 2009South Africa. An incident at a construction site opposite the Pretoria East Hospital left one worker dead and another worker possibly paralysed for life after a section of the building collapsed.
The incident occured in the afternoon and the cause of the collapse is uncertain.
Nick Dollman, spokesperson for Netcare, reported that the gravely injured worker was declared dead at the scene by a Netcare paramedic.
The worker sustained multiple injuries and was thought to have been working on the upper level when the section collapsed.
The worker was believed to have fallen from a height as he had several head injuries, broken arms and legs and was injured by the rubble that fell on him when the section collapsed.
Willie Lightfoot, a LifeMed Ambulance Services parademic reported that LifeMed and Netcare paramedics treated one critically injured worker, four workers with serious injuries and another four with minor injuries.
Mr Lightfoot also reported that the critically injured worker had suffered severe back trauma and was most likely paralysed from the waist down.
The Department of Labour dispatched an inspector to the site and a preliminary report was expected on the 24th of April, according to DoL spokesperson Page Boikanyo.
The Garsfontein Police also opened an inquest docket, reported Captain Collete Weilbach, police spokesperson.
It is unclear if the tragedy will affect the expected opening date of the center which was originally scheduled for the 25th of June.
According to several contractors, the collapse is the third such incident to occur at the site.
The developers, Christodoulou Holdings, were unavailable for comment, and engineers at the scene declined any commentary.
Nearly two hours after the collapse, a contractor slipped from the scaffolding and fell almost 2m. Netcare paramedics were called in and the man was transported to Pretoria East Hospital.
The contractor fell on his knee but was fairly stable.
Source: Pretoria News
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