The post-fatality playbook

A demolition company suffers a fatal accident. By the time an investigation has taken place, the company has folded or has been greatly depleted. Coincidence or something far more sinister?

In the immediate aftermath of a demolition or construction site fatality, there are a number of things that should happen.

First and foremost, the family of the person killed should be contacted, consoled and supported. Secondly, those on site at the time of the fatal accident should receive counselling.

The accident should be thoroughly and immediately investigated internally to ensure that there is no repeat within the company of the circumstances that led to the fatal incident.

The findings of that internal investigation should then be communicated to the industry at large to ensure that no-one else suffers a similar fate.

The investigating authorities can then go about their business in the usual snail’s pace manner.   Meanwhile, the industry can go about its business knowing that any lessons that COULD be learned HAVE been learned; that it has taken care of its own.

That is what SHOULD happen in an ideal world.   But the fact that people continue to be killed in the line of duty on demolition and construction sites proves beyond all doubt that we do not live in an ideal world.

So, rather than what SHOULD happen, let’s now take a look at what does actually happen.  And, just so you know, the things I am about to say now are not a fever dream or something created for editorial expedience or journalistic license.  They have all actually happened. 

First and foremost, since the victim is no longer with us, there is no scope for negotiating an off-record agreement whereby the injured party takes a vow of silence to minimise paperwork and administration and any closer scrutiny from investigators.  No RIDDOR report means the company can continue to claim an unblemished safety record.

In the event of a fatal accident, the family of the worker killed is often lied to.  They are told that one thing has happened when it turns out that is entirely untrue.  Either that, or they are kept entirely in the dark.

Those same families are often consoled initially, but any compassion slowly ebbs away.  As for support - and I mean both emotional AND financial - that is offered, sometimes provided, but generally with a bunch of caveats and contingencies.   Any such support also quickly vanishes.   Grief, loss and the hardship of losing a loved one and a bread-winner last; support, meanwhile, is often fleeting.

Fellow workers are offered counselling having witnessed an on-site fatality.  But there is an almost constant reminder of the need to get back to work.  Time, tide and construction waits for no man.

It is at this point that the real process moves contrary to the ideal process.  Rather than seeking to REVEAL the root cause of the fatality, there is a concerted effort to CONCEAL it instead.  And if the cause cannot be concealed due to the presence of a paper trail or - worse still - eye witnesses, there is then a concerted campaign of obfuscation.  The incident was an act of God; it was caused by inclement weather; it was the fault of someone else.  In fact, any explanation will do so long as it doesn’t contain the phrase “we accept responsibility”.

Yet even this is a cover; an act of subterfuge to distract from what is going on behind the scenes.  Because while the first thought of most people experiencing a fatal accident first-hand is to call for medical assistance, the first thought when this happens in a demolition or construction environment is to call the solicitor and to minimise the financial impact of the accident.

By some weird quirk of coincidence, the company involved in the fatal accident starts to leak assets to an existing sister company or to a new operation that suddenly springs up out of nowhere.  When the time eventually comes to pay any financial penalty over the fatal accident, the company responsible is financially depleted or has slipped quietly and strategically into administration.

This deliberate and thinly-veiled attempt at reducing the level of turnover-linked fine is indirectly aided and abetted by an investigation and prosecution system that moves at the speed of Continental Drift.

By the time any such incident comes before the courts, those responsible have shuffled the corporate deck to ensure that the company involved is all but worthless and, therefore, unable to pay the level of fine that would normally be expected.

Of course, while all this is going on, there is no sharing of information; no wider learning.   We are told that all information is kept away from the public gaze to avoid prejudicing any subsequent prosecution that might follow.  Apparently, terms like “preliminary findings” and “non-disclosure agreements” are unfamiliar to those in the demolition and construction sector.

So rather than doing what is right by bereaved families and by workers; rather than doing what’s right by the industry sector; and rather than doing what’s right morally, many demolition and construction companies -deliberately or otherwise - do the direct opposite.

Families continue to grieve.  The industry fails to learn.   Sites remain hazardous.   And, worst of all, men and women continue to die.

This topic was the subject of an in-depth discussion on today's after show chat. You can listen to the resulting podcast here.