Supervising demolition worker wasn’t present when wall fatally crushed girl
A worker supposed to oversee demolition work at a site where a wall collapsed, fatally crushing a schoolgirl, was absent at the time of the accident, it has been learned.
The 17-year-old high school girl was crushed to death on 14 October when a wall of the factory being dismantled by demolition firm Maruman Goto Kogyo collapsed on top of the road she was cycling along. The accident occurred while demolition workers were attempting to demolish an elevator tower nearby without supporting the wall with wires or heavy machinery.
Under the Industrial Safety and Health Law, a person qualified to oversee the dismantling of steel-reinforced structures is supposed to be present during such demolition work. But industry sources say that the regulations have lost substance and qualified workers are commonly absent.
Read more here.
