Double near-miss contractor accused of taking more safety shortcuts.
The company responsible for a demolition gone wrong in downtown Vancouver last month started up work again Friday, but was asked to stop once more within hours.
In a report released Thursday, the city found that Global Excavating and Demolition didn’t have a written safety plan or final clearance from building inspectors before knocking down the former home of the William Davis Centre for Acting on June 10.
At the demolition site Friday, CTV News heard a warning to the crew as they were allowed to resume work for the first time since that day. “We took a bunch of shortcuts this morning. You see these corners — they’ve got to be covered with something to keep them from cutting the rope. That’s a bust if we get caught,” one member of the crew cautioned workers.
But a man who said he was the site engineer said the company wasn’t taking any shortcuts.
“I haven’t heard that kind of thing; no one is planning to take any shortcuts,” he said.
When CTV News called Global’s head office, a company representative said he didn’t have time to talk.
James Schouw, president of the development company looking after the site, insists that Global is an experienced and reputable contractor that has completed 139 jobs in Metro Vancouver, including 51 in municipal Vancouver.
Crews know they are being scrutinized, Schouw said, and are working to avoid even common demolition mishaps.
“The kind of mistakes and little slip-ups that can happen on a regular basis clearly will not be tolerated at all on this site,” he said. “There’s just no room to make another mistake.”
Friday afternoon, the company was told to stop work by city inspectors because it didn’t have a necessary extension to a zone permit. The issue was resolved shortly after, and crews were back at work on Saturday morning.
Vancouver Coun. Suzanne Anton said the city should investigate the possibility of “shortcuts” being taken on site. “It doesn’t reflect well, if that’s what was said, on the contractor or the city’s oversight processes,” she said.
Read the full story here.
