Scaffolding tumbles down

MORE THAN 20 men miraculously escaped instant death yesterday morning when steel scaffolding, over 100 feet above ground on which they were working, came crashing down scattering them over a wide area of a construction site. The time was 10.15 am.

The men were working on the site of the new Customs and Excise Building on Wrightson Road close to Richmond Street, installing glass.

According to one eyewitness, the scaffolding just seemed to tear apart from the tenth storey of the building under construction and came crashing down in an incident that is yet to be fully explained.

Newsday was told by one source that the scaffolding started to wobble and that a foreman was able to jump and hold on to the top of a floor and pull himself up. Workers on the bottom levels reportedly fell.

The source said that workers were concerned about the sturdiness of the scaffolding and believed it was not “pinned down” properly.

As ambulances rushed to the scene, the busy morning traffic on Wrightson Road and Richmond Street was backed up for hours. The men were rushed to the Port- of-Spain General Hospital (PoSGH) where up to press time they were receiving treatment for broken bones and other injuries.

Miraculously no one died but it was reported that at least one man had to have emergency surgery.

There was no word of the condition of the injured men last night and even their relatives who rushed to the scene on hearing the news, said they were given only limited information.

Minister of Health John Rahael went to the hospital to see first-hand the situation and told reporters that some of the men were seriously injured, one requiring a CT scan.

According to witnesses yesterday some of the men on the scaffolding wore harnesses and hard hats but they claimed not everyone wore protective gear.

The Customs and Excise building is one of many being constructed in downtown Port-of-Spain in the Government’s new thrust to enhance the skyline.

The Government has been criticised for the pressure being caused by the extent of the building boom.

The Customs and Excise building is being constructed by NH International whose chief executive officer, Emile Elias told Newsday yesterday that the accident should not have happened given the great attention that was paid by the company to safety at the site. Representatives of NH, however, refused to give the names of the injured men but the police released some names at about 6 pm yesterday.

Quickly on the scene was Minister of Labour Danny Montano who said the contractors would be held responsible.

“If there has been any breach of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) they will definitely be held accountable,” he said.

“The OSHA is in force and Government is very concerned. The scaffolding was constructed in January.”

Robert Guiseppi, president of the National Trade Union Centre (NATUC) condemned what he termed the lack of safety considerations on construction sites and questioned whether safety requirements were put in place at all of the sites and whether the steel scaffolding was bolted to the building under construction.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown visited the site and said regional corporation engineers would be involved in the investigation of the accident.

“We are sure that the city engineers will find out what caused the scaffolding to collapse.”

Engineers dismissed the suggestion that the heavy rains and flooding of the last couple days would have caused the problem because they said it was steel and it was mounted on concrete.

Guiseppi stated that with all the construction going on in the city the Government would have to have individuals with knowledge of the Safety Act as a matter of urgency.