I just watched someone die

[TheHoff]

Originally Posted by philosophe

What a terrible sight! My sympathies to you and especially to the man's family.

None for me, I am fine; all to him and his family. It was probably just another morning where he headed to work, like any other. Accident or suicide, I'm not sure I'd want to hear which it was.

 

[imageWIS]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I hate to say this but you'll never get that image out of your head.

Unfortunately +1.

I was 1 ½ blocks away from a terrorist attack and I can still fell and hear the vibration of the bomb and infernal sound that followed it.

Jon.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Originally Posted by edmorel

I hate to say this but you'll never get that image out of your head.
I've seen an ever more gruesome death, and it consistently comes back to me, reminding me of my own fragility. I'm sorry you had to see that.

 

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

I hope this wasn't a dig for a tip on a stock to short. It was in downtown Vancouver on a residential highrise (that I'm waiting for completion to move in to). The company is a large one for Vancouver / BC.

No, just curious because I am doing some work for a construction management outfit, and have been spending a lot of time on a large construction site. Safety/accidents are talked about all the time, people take it exceptionally seriously. If it was a large outfit (i.e. Turner), I am sure it'll get picked up by all the construction industry-- everyone will talk about it.


I know on my job site, if he was over 6 feet off the ground and not wearing fire protection, that's some SERIOUS business. The CM field guys would FLIP out.

He should have been fired by his foreman. And if the management company's sup. sees it, the foreman and the person would be fired. No one fired him .... many people are in big trouble.

 

[TheHoff]

We've been sitting here wondering how this might happen and would appreciate any insight you have into construction site rules -- he certainly was not wearing any safety gear... not a helmet, safety vest, or any sort of climbing / attachment / window cleaner apparatus.

This building is literally a few weeks from opening so there are no open walls -- only balconies... and only one above his point. He would've had to have been forcibly pushed over the side or for some reason leaning over the railing... if he didn't jump from the top.

The company is Scott Construction, Vancouver, BC. Sitename: Cielo.

 

[amerikajinda]

1281 West Cordova Street

 

[xchen]

Keep checking in the newspaper and obits for more news, unless you'd rather not know what happened.

 

[Manny Calavera]

Originally Posted by amerikajinda

1281 West Cordova Street

Jesus...

 

[Nantucket Red]

I once saw someone who had been hit by a train between Osaka and Kyoto. Judging from the scene as the train I was on crept by -- just before police covered his mangled body -- he'd been in his car and got caught in the middle of a crossing and was hit by an express train. His car had been crushed like a tin can, and it seemed that after having had everything twisted around the wrong way, the man was thrown some distance from the car. His arms and legs had been bent back the wrong way and his whole body appeared to have been wrung out like a rag and was covered with black abrasions. A few bones were sticking out. It took only a fraction of a second for this image to be imprinted in my mind before the police covered his body.

My first thought was that in cases like this, death is a mercy. This was mixed with the knowledge that the man's family was just about to get the news of his death, which would radically affect their lives. The entire accident had taken mere seconds, but would affect everyone who witnessed it. Trauma spreads like ripples in a pond from these types of accidents.

Many years later, I was working on a construction site in a heavily wooded area with a couple of really rough characters. One day we heard a tremendous crash on the main road at the end of the driveway, and the two bruisers wandered out to the road to see what had happened. I was up on the roof and just kept working. A few seconds later, one of the guys came running back, screaming frantically for me to throw him my razor knife. I didn't ask questions and just threw it to him, and he went running back telling me to stay put and not go out to see what was happening. There was a firehouse hardly more than a hundred yards from the end of the driveway, and pretty soon the sirens sounded.

A while later, both guys came back visibly shaken. They obviously needed to talk about the experience they'd had. Some lady had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed headlong into a telephone pole, and her car had burst into flames. These guys had tried to pull her from the burning car and needed the razor knife to cut the seatbelt. They described how badly burned she was with bits of burning plastic all over her and some sort of synthetic clothing that just ignited.

These were the toughest guys I've ever worked with. One of them had worked for the mafia at one point and had shot a man point blank. The other was a recovered coke addict who lived on coffee and cigarettes and was basically an angry, selfish type. This guy said that in a situation where you need to save someone's life, you forget about your own safety and do whatever you have to do for the other person. It was a rather surprising sentiment to hear coming from a guy like him. They both had to take the rest of the day off and had to settle down a bit before they were even ready to drive home.

The one person I've seen die right before my eyes was my step-father, who died at home of congestive heart failure with the entire family present. We nursed him through his last week of life. We were all present at the moment he died. It was also not a sudden traumatic death, as his health had been declining for years. That and the shared experience made it a bit easier to cope.

 

[TheHoff]

^^ Thanks for sharing.

Apparently it wasn't a worker or inspector; simply a suicidal man who happened to choose this building today. According to someone who was working at the scene, the deceased entered the site, rode the elevator to the roof even asking directions on the way, and then jumped. Condolences to any kin. The site will be shut down for two days.

 

[rubylith]

Hoff, I'm really sorry you had to see that.

The guy obviously wanted a dramatic exit, and he sure as hell got it. Too bad he wasn't the one to appreciate it, and you and other folks were. Sheesh.

 

[Arethusa]

What the hell makes you think he wanted a dramatic exit? He wanted to die and he did, and he was rather to the point about it. I see nothing to appreciate in that.

 

[rubylith]

You have got to be kidding. Guy knows the way to ride up to the top of a 35-story building, mid-construction, and jumps off. How is that not goddamned dramatic?

 

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

We've been sitting here wondering how this might happen and would appreciate any insight you have into construction site rules -- he certainly was not wearing any safety gear... not a helmet, safety vest, or any sort of climbing / attachment / window cleaner apparatus. This building is literally a few weeks from opening so there are no open walls -- only balconies... and only one above his point. He would've had to have been forcibly pushed over the side or for some reason leaning over the railing... if he didn't jump from the top. The company is Scott Construction, Vancouver, BC. Sitename: Cielo.
If you're 6 feet off the ground or more, you NEED fall protection (google this if you want to see). Basically a harness set up. It's very serious that people wear this, the "safety guy" for the construction management company will turn purple in the face if he sees someone not wearing this. You're not allowed on ANY of our job sites, with out hard boots, safety glasses, hard hat and gloves. If we see someone not wearing one of these items, they'll usually get a warning as long as they are far away from machinery when we see them with out the gear. It's a full time job to make sure trades people follow safety precautions. You would not believe how big of a stubborn pain ********** these guys will be over following STATE LAWS. They want to do it their way, and they don't want someone who works in an office and has a desk to tell them what to do. The other thing is, as soon as you let a few guys start slacking on the rules, they all will, and it'll get worse and worse. It's a full time job to keep them in line, and you never want to loose control over them. Accidents don't just happen-- and in construction there are SERIOUS ramifications for this sort of accident. People on site for the CM are getting fired, contractors are getting in big trouble and the insurance for the project/future projects is going WAY up. Yes someone died, but at the same time, MANY people are still in for it. It's sad people with families are going to loose their jobs/careers over this. When I get in to work, I'll let you know if there are any articles about this fall on any construction sites. One of the things I do for the project I am working on is tracking man power/man hours and working out statistics for insurance purposes. I also walk the field a few times a week so that I can watch the construction/get out of my office--- even I am responsible to make sure everything out there is in order while on my walks.

 

[life_interrupts]

Originally Posted by TheHoff

A construction worker just fell to his death across the street. I heard a loud thud, glass breaking, and another thud. I looked outside to see some poor soul's mangled body on the sidewalk, back obviously broken and not moving. At this point I don't know if it was suicide or a dumb accident but there doesn't appear anywhere he could've fallen from except for the very top of the nearly finished building -- there are no balconies over where he fell and landed on the glass awning. I called 911. I'm a little weirded out and can't seem to return to work.
How did you sleep? How are you doing today?