LH Invests 5.7 Billion Baht to Elevate Pattaya's Shopping Scene

[Grumpy Duck]

2 hours ago, rickb said:

I worked for a large construction company in the US before retiring.  If we had even a Lost Time Accident, we would feel the wrath of the company execs.  We took safety very seriously.  Here in Thailand, most of the safety programs include a sign out front that says "Safety First" and that's all.  Here hard hats are made of cheap plastic, practically no one wears steel toe boots, safety glasses and gloves are usually nonexistent and I have rarely seen anyone up high tied off.  Safety here is pathetic.  I really feel sorry for the workers who must risk their life in order to make some money.

 

I also spent many years working on a number of projects in California I will never forget working as a sub of a sub for a big Texas General Contractor at the BP ARCO refinery in Carson, Ca. Some safety "expert" threatened running me off the job for painting my hard hat, what he was really disliking were the 10 years of Local 12 Union stickers on top of the water soluble paint. He failed to even notice the dangers of the exploratory trench I was instructed to dig 12" wide and about 12' deep in SANDY material on a roadway. The next morning a huge 100 ton crane almost flipped over when crossing the trench plated excavation that collapsed under it. All the big shots were there as looky loos, I saw the safety expert standing next to the plant manager and remarked, "Yup my hard hat was your only worry when we suggested closing this area to traffic" He was gone that day. It seems I was still a celebrity for safely breaking 4" of concrete from a 12" encasement of a 50,000 volt live power line inside a dangerous unit many years prior. All the big shots were watching that also. 

 

I had been hoping to watch this gantry in action on my numerous trips to the near by immigration office, but never did.  

 

My heart goes out to the families and co-workers of the men lost. Will they be a forgotten statistic on the next labor holiday?

Edited April 30, 2017 by Grumpy Duck
Corrections and clarification

[lvr181]

".....accountability, engineering  responsibility and risk management sadly lacking."  Government?  

 

All jokes aside, RIP those killed and condolences to families and friends.

[OnTheRun]

I've mentioned this before on a similar thread. One of the main reasons, if not the major reason, that western companies really tightened up on HSE was when governments introduced corporate manslaughter charges that made company executives liable to prosecution. Hopefully one day Thailand and other countries in the region will adopt a similar policy. 

Edited April 30, 2017 by OnTheRun

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, Classic Ray said:

Life is cheap here as companies are rarely held to account either criminally or by large compensation awards, so accidents are either covered up or ignored.

 

That is why they are flocking here from North America. If Asia came up to North American standards the playing field would be level. Viet Nam seems to be the next stop for the North American vultures. Yes life is cheap here. $100 will usually make the problem go away. Its big business Nirvana. After robotics and 3D printing are in full swing they will all move back to America to take advantage of the welfare the American government will be doling out to buy all the crap the returning businesses make. There is no welfare in Asia. 

[bazza73]

In trying to implement a safety culture imported from Australia here, one of the problems encountered was a reluctance by Thai nationals to identify a safety risk. It reflected badly on someone higher up the chain. In addition, injuries at work  were concealed for fear of losing the job.

Thailand has a long way to go on safety at work, unfortunately.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Do you know, my great uncle Kenny was standing on a scaffold when it collapsed. He would have broke both his legs, if he hadn't had a rope around his neck at the time

[fish monger]

Sorry, but does anyone have any idea what exactly that orange contraption does or what it looks like when it's not on the ground...! I have never in my life seen anything like it....

[anon4546543]

9 hours ago, rickb said:

I worked for a large construction company in the US before retiring.  If we had even a Lost Time Accident, we would feel the wrath of the company execs.  We took safety very seriously.  Here in Thailand, most of the safety programs include a sign out front that says "Safety First" and that's all.  Here hard hats are made of cheap plastic, practically no one wears steel toe boots, safety glasses and gloves are usually nonexistent and I have rarely seen anyone up high tied off.  Safety here is pathetic.  I really feel sorry for the workers who must risk their life in order to make some money.

 

I worked most of my life in the mining (open pit) industry. There were no safety procedures when I started. (mid seventies) There was no PPE, training,  hard hats- nothing. I worked in the north west of West Aust and the only safety provided was salt tablets until over use caused a death from heat injuries. It was was only in the mid nineties that safety became an issue. The general workforce was anti safety procedures, only idiots got injured or killed through stupidity, the rest of us were bullet proof. This is the state of affairs in Thailand now.

May I also add that almost all companies in the nth west abide by stringent rules and a paper work trail that identifies risk takers who are dismissed not only from site but the entire mining industry. Safety is a priority and it may take up to 2 hours every day per person to put a safety programme together before work starts. Everyone involved must participate and everyone must sign off. All risks are tried to be identified - to equipment, to personnel, to procedures. It is costly and time consuming but it does save lives.

I doubt those Thai workers needed to die, I doubt that all safety procedures were observed. The workers involved may have caused the risk, but it is the company, its training methods and enforcement of risk assessment that must be questioned in a court of law.

RIP to the workers, condolences to the family and friends. I hope this is the start of real safety improvements to this company and to all companies everywhere. 

 PS, I now live in Thailand and mostly it is my family and neighbours that identify risks to me, snakes, scorpians,  mosquitoes, ants and so on. Always a learning curve.