A safety pressure group has declared the new Westfield Stratford City shopping centre in east London a disaster, after a third safety incident in a week took place during the venue's high-profile opening ceremony.
The Construction Safety Campaign said there was "little to celebrate" in the news that a metal roof tile fell and smashed to the floor just metres away from where guests - including London Mayor Boris Johnson - were standing. A spokesperson for Westfield Stratford City, which with 250 shops, 70 dining outlets, three hotels and 130,000 square feet of office space, is Europe's largest urban shopping centre, said the incident happened in "an empty part of the mall" and that "no-one was touched, as the area had already been cleared."
However, two other incidents in the past week did result in serious injuries to two workers on the site. On 9 September, a worker on a ladder received an electric shock and fell, sustaining burns and other injuries. On 5 September, an electrician fell while working from a set of steps and broke his back. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have confirmed that they are aware of the incidents and are investigating.
Tony O'Brien, National Secretary of the Construction Safety Campaign said, "We see little to celebrate in the opening of Westfield today. The price workers pay in building these projects is often their health, disability or even death. We have always said this is unacceptable and it is shameful these people are not being remembered today."
However, construction union UCATT defended the site, saying that despite recent accidents and a fatality in late 2009, they generally had a good safety record - it recently passed a million man-hours without a reportable accident for the fourth time. But the latest incidents are a source of "extreme concern" for the union.
For more information, see:
