Crossrail workers - safety concerns

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the London Economic

Crossrail workers down tools after five colleagues die in their sleep in six months

Crossrail workers have downed their tools due to concerns over their working conditions after five of their colleagues allegedly died in their sleep over the past six months.

Employees at London’s Bond Street station have raised concerns about air quality at the site after recent deaths on Saturday and Monday.

According to reports in The Metro some staff members refused to work earlier this week and demanded a full investigation following the tragic incidents.

One employee said: “You’re talking about reasonably healthy people, good health.

“No one is happy. A lot of people knew the guys, it’s not a nice environment on site at the moment.

“Everyone’s at each other’s throats. Management are clearly more interested in making sure that it doesn’t get out, really they are trying to keep everything quiet.”

Poor ventilation

A Crossrail spokesperson confirmed to The Metro that three workers have died since June, saying a fourth died earlier this year because of an unrelated illness."

I was going to start this in the "Rumour Mill" but note it's quoting the Metro, and a response from Crossrail, so the concern / story appear to stack up - even if it's concern brought about by a terrible co-incidence.

[grahame]

Much fuller report - https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/03/fifth-crossrail-worker-dies-sleep-just-six-months-10841276/

Details of how the workers died have not been revealed, but the most recent deaths are believed to have been as a result of possible heart attacks. The worker said everyone who has died have all been contractors from different companies, suggesting their premature deaths could be related to the site itself. A source has said dust monitor tests on site in recent months have been frequently showing red. He said poor ventilation, working five levels below ground and drilling and cutting wood is a potentially dangerous combination.

I have poor internet connectivity today - will take a look back at this and tidy up my posts later if need be

[Electric train]

We should also be mind full that there are still a lot of construction works employed on Crossrail, perhaps the number of deaths (non industrial accidents) should be compared with a similar sized project / employer.  Also the work may be quite strenuous ie a lot stair climbing and walking, more perhaps than other construction sites

[broadgage]

I suspect that if considering the number of workers engaged on this project, that the death rate from natural causes might be as expected.

Some actual hard data, rather than my supposition, would be interesting.