Three Killed Falling From Thailand's Highest Building During Billboard Installation

[JohnAllan]

No full body harness? My company requires full fall protection above 6 feet, much less 66 floors.

TIT - as if it needs to be said..

It actually took 7 posts before someone begun to bash thailand as a country in this thread.

Congratz of being the first thai basher of this thread vahack

Yep! We can see you're not a westerner - sorry, farang. You are obviously a Thai with understandable pride in all of Thailand's considerable achievements in the field of safety . . .

[pacovl46]

When friends of mine built a house in Bangkok they befriended one of the builders. When he was finished with their house he moved to another construction site. He was under scaffolding which then broke and the planks together with 2 of his co-workers landed on top of him. They pulled him up and dragged him into a taxi, which then got stuck in traffic on the way to the hospital. When they arrived there 40 minutes after the accident he was in a coma. He woke up a few weeks later, but is a paraplegic now because of a fracture in his spine, which was worsened by the way he was lying in the taxi. Of course the company that employed him didn't have health insurance. They paid for his hospital bills, though, and a one off payment plus a monthly amount. The thing that pisses me off the most, though is, that he was able to move his arms and legs after a while, but since he can't afford proper therapy he will never walk again!

[pacovl46]

Bamboo scaffolding is ok.

Let's just hope that Thailand doesn't go the way of the UK where recently police watched a guy die in 50cm of water because they didn't have the needed qualifications to go into water above ankle height. Or where guys working have to wear helmets even if the only thing that may fall on to them is a passing aircraft. ...

What the XXXX??? What kind of special equipment does one need to remove someone from 50cm deep water??? As long as they're not putting their own lives at risk they are obligated to jump in and pull the guy out. They should sue their asses big time man!!!!

Edited May 8, 2012 by Scott
profanity edited out

[rizla]

The work at height regulations in UK were changed so the decision of am I to high was taken away. Now as soon as you feet are not on the ground consider you are working at height & take the appropriate precautions.

The option these people chose not to wear & not to check their equipment is common in many countries around the world. All because of the human factor & belief ‘’it will never happen to me’’ on this occasion as with many other industrial accidents it did. All because the workers did not follow procedures. Yes this also happens in the UK. follow the procedures assess your risks, mitigate against them put measures in place to prevent them happening, And the job should turn out fine & we all go home to our loved ones & cash in the pocket. The reason we all do it. Common sense costs nothing the choice is yours.

Out thoughts & prayers are with there families at this very difficult time.

Senior HSE Advisor,

All accidents are preventable ....Risk assessments, Haz op`s etc

No task is so important that you cannot take the time to do it safely....

Work permit issuer, or work permit even issued ?

I believe that simple tasks will lead to , at some point an accident but not on this type of work.. 25 years of PTW issuing with one of the safest companies in the world (dupont)....BUT BIG ONES STILL OCCUR

R.I.P guys

[thairet]

What a dopey lot;

the workers (r.i.p.), the foreman, the safety engineer(?), the supervisor, the site manager, the owners, the Govt et al. I love Thailand and the people, but I am so glad I was not born as one.

[tragickingdom]

Another show of incompetence and non caring employers and authorities. The cable had reached it's end of life a long time ago. Still nobody seems to see anything wrong with it to keep on using the rotten equipment. A very very long prison term for the owner and managers of the company and for the government inspectors who did not do their job properly will teach them a lesson. A long sentence is far more appropriate than for all those children caught with two pills in their pocket.

[PingManDan]

More then likely faulty equipment, and no safety gear, a recipe for a tragic accident, like what has happened.

[IsaanUSA]

No full body harness? My company requires full fall protection above 6 feet, much less 66 floors.

TIT - as if it needs to be said..

It actually took 7 posts before someone begun to bash thailand as a country in this thread.

Congratz of being the first thai basher of this thread vahack

That's not even bashing on Thailand. He is just stating a fact that safety regulations are different in different countries. No need to get on the defensive for a stupid accident that could have happened anywhere in the world.

[bangon04]

The work at height regulations in UK were changed so the decision of am I to high was taken away. Now as soon as you feet are not on the ground consider you are working at height & take the appropriate precautions.

The option these people chose not to wear & not to check their equipment is common in many countries around the world. All because of the human factor & belief ‘’it will never happen to me’’ on this occasion as with many other industrial accidents it did. All because the workers did not follow procedures. Yes this also happens in the UK. follow the procedures assess your risks, mitigate against them put measures in place to prevent them happening, And the job should turn out fine & we all go home to our loved ones & cash in the pocket. The reason we all do it. Common sense costs nothing the choice is yours.

Out thoughts & prayers are with there families at this very difficult time.

Senior HSE Advisor,

every minute you spend walking around in Thailand must be so good for your blood pressure........

[Yunla]

My condolences to the men's families.

Its not only Thailand it is all of Asia and many other parts of the world too, and it is also in factories and sweatshops where employees breathe toxic fumes all day. You are just as likely to die from toxic fumes as tumbling off a scaffold, and the fact is that in most of the developing world human life isn't worth anything at all because there's always more people ready to take your job after you are gone, and training for many trades is minimal. This is not a Thai issue and it is not about mai pen rai, it is the 21st Century where humans are becoming increasiingly expendable by virtue of their soaring numbers. Diamonds are valuable because they are in short supply and hard to obtain, humans are cheap because theres 7 billion and soon enough 50 billion. Thailand is more likely to go towards China than the West, and in China its cheaper to get new miners than to build safe mines. Corporate face-saving is a given, apologies, war-rooms, initiative drives for excellance, etc. but really the 21C work culture is aboout devaluing humans & its only going to get worse.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Yunla

[webfact]

Three workers plunge to death

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- A cradle hoisting five men up to the 68th floor of Baiyoke Tower II to install an advertising billboard yesterday suddenly split, flinging three men down to their deaths.

Two other workers survived as they managed to hang on to the sides.

"I was dangling there for more than 10 minutes before someone broke the window to pull me in," 30-year-old Plernjit Kong-udom said. The other survivor was identified as Suvichet Inpong.

The three men killed were Kamthorn Amornwong, 33; Adiwat Srijuankitiphum, 31; and Rittichai Jamyard, 21. Their bodies were found on the 18th, 20th and 36th floors respectively.

"Rittichai was my nephew," Plernjit said. He said none of the workers had a harness in place and had failed to check the condition of the stainless steel cradle before they started working.

"We had never thought an accident like this would happen because I have done this work so many times before," Plernjit said, admitting he did notice a crack when he got in.

The men were working for Q Ads. Police are looking into the incident. Police are looking into the case to determine the cause of the accident.

-- The Nation 2012-05-08

[Crushdepth]

This is the same as farangs drinking and driving or not wearing seat belts. "It won't cause ME to crash, I know what I'm doing"

Accidents happen....even in the west.

Just not quite so often or so badly.

This wasn't an accident IMHO, it was gross negligence. If they'd followed *any* of their safety procedures they'd probably be alive.

[draftvader]

I was walking back down our soi yesterday and commented to my wife how I had just seen 2 workers on the 36 floor building in the next soi working on full harness, hard hats and visible safety lines. It stuck out because I had not seen this in the previous 2 years of work on this building....now I know why!

[orosee]

68 floors up and no safety equipment. Darwin strikes again.

However, this would have never happened if they had the same protective tattoos (sak yant / สักยันต์) that so many of the Thais have.

"Darwin strikes again"...priceless.

Although it's only funny if you have no idea how evolution really works.

[orosee]

...

The Baiyoke II is a gorgeous building ...

...

I always thought of that thing as the World's tallest freestanding elevator shaft. Or the tallest ugly building of the World. It definitely became worse once they started to cover up its naked ugliness with advertising. Add to that the fact that it is practically standing with its feet in the mud, what with all those grimy, old and shabby buildings around it. I feel there are only two good things about Bayoke 2: One, it gives you an indicator when coming from the airport(s) that you're almost where you want to go, two, there are still many locations in Bangkok from which you can't see it.

To think that this monster was supposed to outshine the Petronas Towers!

[orosee]

Just to be nitpicking a bit: The headline is incorrect, as we learned in school. Bayoke 2 is NOT Thailand's "highest building", I'd assume that would be standing somewhere in Thailand's North on one of the mountains. The first article corrects it: Thailand's "tallest building". All that could have been avoided by writing "Thailand's ugliest building", as it should be.

[draftvader]

The BBC is describing it as "a distinctive feature of the Thai capital's skyline". That says it all.

[navara]

They rest in peace.

Safety regulation exist only on paper in this country. True education is a waste of money. Crazy things happen every day, this time it went really bad. Tomorrow they have frgotten everything if never ever happens.

[jaapfries]

Some 4 years ago I was looking for a rope access course, the main one, (and only one really) is International Rope Access Trade Association, (IRATA) Could I find one in Thailand……..Had only one company here tell me they were getting it…….Soon, really! I had to go to Singapore.

I don’t know if they have an internationally accredited body, for working at height in Thailand yet……I don’t think so….Just crack downs!

RIP guys and commiserations to the families.

There certainly is a firm who is accredited to run those courses in Thailand, including IRATA, Working at Heights, Confined Spaces, Scaffolding - the whole lot. The problem in Thailand is that Employers would have to pay to put their people through these courses and that's where the problem is.

Unlike the Off-Shore Industries: these chaps MUST be certified, otherwise they're not even allowed on the Platforms etc.

I happen to know that moves are being made in Thailand to enforce similar Certification criteria for the On-Shore industries. Maybe now 'they' will speed-up this process and simply make it mandatory ? ? ?

RIP to the victims and a big S.O.Y. (Shame On You) to the Employers of these guys !

[gemguy]

Sad ..but even if they had inspected the platform for structual defects the failure could have happened.

It looks like the bottom of the platform broke, probably structual welding defects.

More than likely they have been using the same platform for 20 years leaving the platform on the top of the building where it may have been sitting immersed in rain water for long periods.

The platform should have suspension cables located at the center point also to avoid any "flexation" in the center of the platform.

For the workers it was just another routine operation.

Sometimes that is where the danger lies as they are not working alert and considering any "possibilities"

Of course they should have been wearing fall protection.

Hopefully the industry will respond correctly and require all aerial platform workers wear fall protection.

[johnlandy]

RIP those who fell to their death.

It may sound callous, but this being Thailand I hope I may be excused

Breaking News - Breaking News

Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said on Monday she has instructed the industry ministry to step up safety measures by inspecting all ... ...

Nothing is gonna change darling.

There were 40 deaths a month on commercial construction jos in the 'big mango' around 12 years back. 40 + killed in the construction of the TMB HQ alone.

These guys (Baiyoke) broke every rule in the book and paid the price. 'no worries' plenty more waiting at the gate to fill their shoes...

And now they are proposing a THB600 fine for breaking the regs.

It's absolutely laughable.

When Thais understand (which will be when the moon turns to green cheese) that there is a well known tool called 'cause and effect' there might be changes (but it won't be in my grandchildrens lifetimes)

[daninthai]

1. RIP and condolences

2. 'tallest' building.... not 'highest'

3. ALL platforms, cables and safety equipment should be checked every 3 weeks, nationally

4. Safety is a big government concern and is being taken 'seriously'

5. PM Yingluck wants reporters to stop asking her questions about this.

[BigSkip]

R.I.P. No more needs to be said........

[Gerryasia]

Lots of expats like Thailand because of the relatively low cost of living. Ever wondered how that works?

yes it works

And you MIGHT be the next with a dead body falling on your head from 68 stories...mai pen rai...I wish I was back there too...555. ;-)

[louse1953]

Sad ..but even if they had inspected the platform for structual defects the failure could have happened.

It looks like the bottom of the platform broke, probably structual welding defects.

More than likely they have been using the same platform for 20 years leaving the platform on the top of the building where it may have been sitting immersed in rain water for long periods.

The platform should have suspension cables located at the center point also to avoid any "flexation" in the center of the platform.

For the workers it was just another routine operation.

Sometimes that is where the danger lies as they are not working alert and considering any "possibilities"

Of course they should have been wearing fall protection.

Hopefully the industry will respond correctly and require all aerial platform workers wear fall protection.

You must have an escape plan if an accident happens also.Hanging in a harness for more than 20 minutes and you'll be dead also,definitely no children after that.

[MILT]

Let's not require any safety equipment. That would cost too much money and, anyway, workers are so cheap. How many deaths will it take to make people understand that helmets, safety belts, decent shoes (boots), etc. can save lives. Does anybody care?

Yep especially the boots. How many times have I skated death by wearing my boots.

Rest in Peace fallen workers of Thailand.

[NanaFoods]

I used to work on radio towers in my youth, 1500 footers, but we always used to say you are just as dead from 100 ft as from 1000 so it doesn't really matter that it was the tallest building around. The lack of precautions during high work was one the first things that struck me when I first came here. It just seems to be a cultural thing, safety is not a high priority throughout the whole society. " up to them".

The cultural thing is called: Mai pen rai.

In this case, and in the case of safety in general, I might argue otherwise.

I'd say it has more to do with Tree Spirits.

If the Tree Spirits are watching out for you, "safety gear" would be superfluous.

If the Tree Spirits are angry with you, no harness or helmet is going to save you.

[jalansanitwong]

I wonder how many times a Thai worker can say " mai pen rai" as he falls 60 floors in 7 seconds.

[Nigel1500]

The fact they all landed at difference levels suggests there was a strong wind blowing.

Rubbish!!!

[NanLaew]

... Now as soon as you feet are not on the ground consider you are working at height & take the appropriate precautions. ...

Senior HSE Advisor,

Those sitting in a bar and pondering making a post on this thread, please STOP right now!

Look down. Both feet on a rung on the stool? You need to make sure that at least one foot is firmly on the ground. OK? Carry on.

Senior Common Sense Practitioner