Recent fatalities are reminders of demolition hazards
A construction worker helping to demolish a Blockbuster Video building June 20th in New Jersey was trapped and killed when the last standing wall collapsed on top of him. Six months earlier, a 25-year-old construction worker in Chicago was struck and killed by pieces of falling concrete while conducting renovations on a shopping mall.
A year ago, six people were killed and 14 injured in Philadelphia when a four-story building undergoing demolition collapsed. All these deaths could have been prevented, according to OSHA, which recently updated its Demolition Web page to focus on the serious hazards common in demolition operations.