Construction and fire

Accident at The Hague Rijnstraat building site

Investigation start date : 31-05-2016 Publish date report : 26-04-2017

Status : Closed

The Dutch Safety Board has investigated an accident at the building site of the former VROM building in the city centre of The Hague. In the morning of 26 May 2016, twenty parts were loosened during the hoisting of scaffolding. These fell from over sixty meters high downwards and came partly outside the building site, in the middle of a pedestrian and bicycle traffic area. A woman who was passing by was hit and died.

Based on the investigation, the Dutch Safety Board proposes that municipalities, contractors and builders of extensive construction projects in busy city cities continually assess the safety of the environment. Especially on tight construction sites, enclosed by streets with many passages and traffic, there are more risks to the environment. When an accident occurs, there is more chance that this will also have its’ affect outside the building fence. The safeguarding of the environment in such projects, is therefore crucial. This can be a complex puzzle because safety measures affect other interests, such as the flow of traffic and accessibility of shops and buildings.

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Summary: Hoisting in the heart of the city

Building site safety in an urban environment is a difficult puzzle

In the Netherlands, a lot of building work is performed in city centres. These are large and extensive projects, such as the building of Zalmhaventoren in Rotterdam, the renovation of the station area in Utrecht and the renovation of the former VROM building in The Hague. City centres are busy and space is scarce. Major building projects may therefore be subject to increased safety risks. At small building sites enclosed by a busy urban area, the risks are higher that an accident will also have consequences outside the site fence. Guaranteeing environmental safety in these projects is therefore crucial. It may be a difficult puzzle, as safety measures may affect other interests, such as accessibility and habitability.

Rijnstraat accident reveals hidden field of tension and insufficient buffer

When the building work at Rijnstraat 8 commenced, the builder and the Municipality of The Hague thought they had solved this puzzle. However, the accident on 26 May 2016 reveals a hidden field of tension between the accessibility of the station area and the safety around the building site. Every day thousands of people passed the building site. Some of the scaffold parts that fell from the crane ended up outside the building site, right among the pedestrian and cycling traffic of the morning rush hour. The Board recognises that the Municipality of The Hague leads the way when it comes to matters such as specifying minimum distances between an active crane and the site fence, but also concludes that these rules provided an insufficient buffer to protect the surrounding area against the scaffold parts that fell from the crane. They fell up to twice as far away as taken into account by the rules.

Prior analysis of surrounding area by commissioning authority helps to prevent issues

The assumption made by the parties involved in coordinating matters regarding the building site was that it was safe outside the site fence, as the contours of the building site had been determined based on the municipality’s safety rules. However, environmental safety is not a static and absolute fact (safe or unsafe). Fitting a building site into the surroundings is precisely about the interaction and possible tension between the intended safety of the surroundings and other environmental factors and interests. The sooner they are revealed, the more they can be taken into account. The Board therefore sees an important role for commissioning authorities of building projects in the preparation of a building project. Before issuing a call for tenders, the commissioning authority could carry out an analysis of the surrounding area in close consultation with the municipality. During this process, all relevant environmental factors, such as the location of the building site, the intensity of various traffic streams and the arrangements made with the parties involved, would be mapped out. This kind of prior environmental analysis helps the commissioning authority to prepare a realistic and sound building assignment, giving a builder enough time, money and space to work safely. Afterwards, the builder should consider what is required and possible to guarantee safety of the surrounding area and which building method suits this.

Mapping out risks and preventing them through policy

The municipality approves a building project, setting requirements for the level of safety. This requires a clear picture of the hazards that may occur at the building site, the chances of them occurring, the possible effects and the factors that may affect this. One example of such a risk is objects falling from a crane. It is important here to know how far objects may fall and how this is affected, for example, by the mass and shape of the hoisting load, the hoisting height, crane movement, wind and objects in the fall path (such as scaffolds). The Board believes that the Minister of Housing and the Central Government Sector should be mapping out risks in this manner, in collaboration with the building industry.

Once the manifestation and effects of building risks have been investigated, municipalities can draw up or amend policy rules to prevent these risks. Prior to this process, the Minister of Housing and the Central Government Sector should determine the intended level of environmental safety. The implementation of the municipal policy should then ensure that this intended safety level is actually achieved.

Report

Summary Accident at Rijnstraat building site

Recommendations

To the Central Government Real Estate Agency and the members of the Commissioning Authorities Forum for the Building Industry

Before starting the tendering process for building projects, map out the relevant environmental factors and use them to formulate a building assignment that is realistic and can be developed safely.

To the Minister of Housing and the Central Government Sector

In collaboration with the building industry, improve the knowledge of the scale and nature of building risks to the area surrounding a building site.
Use the results of recommendation 2 to set a safety level for the area surrounding building sites.

To the Housing and Building Control Association

Incorporate the data, the results of the investigation and the safety level set stated in recommendation 2 and 3 in the National Building and Demolition Safety Guideline.

To the Municipality of The Hague

While preparing a building project, check whether the safety level is being attained and continue to keep an eye on this. Focus on the features of the area surrounding the building site and the possibility that other environmental interests conflict with the intended safety levels.
Improve the efficiency of the coordination with local stakeholders involved before the approval decision. Appoint a project leader who can make a clear and sound assessment in case of conflicting interests to reach a decision more quickly.

To Royal BAM Group N.V.

Make concrete arrangements about working safely and check that these arrangements are understood and observed at the building site.