When the mortar doesn’t hold: accidents in the construction and demolition industries
David Rose, 16 March 2000
On Saturday 29 January, I left my in-laws’ house in Wadham Road, Bootle, and headed for the Strand Precinct to buy myself a shirt. As I reached the junction with Stanley Road a building fell down in front of me. I saw a man leap from the top of it. There was a crash and bricks spilled out into the road, pulling the scaffolding down with them. Another man was pinned between the falling building and the scaffolding. There was a cloud of dust as the noise grew, then it was quiet. This, more or less, was the substance of my witness statement a week later to the local Health and Safety Executive inspector.
