Brick and Mortar are not inherently safe

A story recently posted by the EuroNews told readers how one person prevented a catastrophic loss of life by reporting an unsafe building. The sharp-eyed man alerted emergency services after seeing cracks appear in a four-storey building. The building which was made up of both commercial and residential properties was cordoned off by the fire department and evacuated. The building then collapsed, the firefighters rescued one person from the rubble, with only light injuries and one death was later confirmed. If it weren't for the sharp eyed man who alerted authorities to the issue, there would have been many more deaths.

An investigation into why the four-story building collapsed is underway.

In 2018, two buildings collapsed in the southern French city of Marseille, killing eight people and triggering harsh criticism of local authorities and the French government.

France’s interior minister at the time, Christophe Castaner, responded by ordering a citywide building-by-building audit as well as a programme to guarantee safer conditions.

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A very scary story, I guess we all tend to assume that "bricks and mortar" buildings are inherently safe. We developed our app to encourage companies to carry out and record routine inspections of their workplace equipment to ensure it was safe to use and to reduce maintenance costs. From our experience we see "fixed" or seemingly "simple" structures without moving parts (eg racking, ladders) as equipment often overlooked in comparison to more complex equipment like forklifts or vehicles. Similar to the building, it is easy to assume that it will remain forever safe. Putting in place routine visual (basic) checks (by companies or indeed by authorities in France) can help spot minor faults early and have them rectified before they develop into something more costly (the collapse of a building and loss of life is about as costly as it comes). It is all about changing people's mindsets and trying to prevent accidents rather than reacting to them. The guy in the article undoubtedly saved lives by reporting his concerns, what isn't clear is if those cracks appeared overnight or had they been present, but worsening over a period of time until they became so bad that they couldn't be ignored?

Read the full story by EuroNews: France building collapse: One dead but man's eagle eyes save more lives