BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[Pblakeney]

I imagine there will be some serious questions being asked already as to how that could happen... one would have thought one of the prime design criteria would have been the ability to isolate fire, not least in an individual building, let alone between separate ones.

Not that I've ever been but isn't Hong Kong severely over congested?
UK levels of H&S simply do not apply.

 

[cookiemonster]

Not that I've ever been but isn't Hong Kong severely over congested?
UK levels of H&S simply do not apply.

HK follows EU and UK safety levels.

 

[Beebo]

Up to 300 missing or feared dead.
Hopefully that number will fall.
But this is bound to be a big loss. Luckily it started in the day time. Imagine the panic if it was at night.

 

[Beebo]

HK follows EU and UK safety levels.

Glad you are safe. How close is the block to you?

 

[cookiemonster]

I knew there was a fire in Tai Po but it wasn't until I woke up this morning that I realised how horrifying this is.

I used to live in Tai Po, not too far from where this fire is but I moved away about 5 years ago.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong...dents-trapped?module=breaking&pgtype=homepage

 

[cookiemonster]

Glad you are safe. How close is the block to you?

I live in Tin Shui Wai now so a different part of HK. I used to live in Tai Po until about 5 years ago.

 

[cookiemonster]

I imagine there will be some serious questions being asked already as to how that could happen... one would have thought one of the prime design criteria would have been the ability to isolate fire, not least in an individual building, let alone between separate ones.

The 3 CEOs of the engineering company involved have been arrested.

 

[briantrumpet]

The 3 CEOs of the engineering company involved have been arrested.

I remember seeing a documentary about a terrible train crash in Japan, and the outcome of the enquiries supposedly led to a step change in priorities and the necessary culture of safety outweighing punctuality. This HK disaster must surely lead to a change in H&S, and arresting CEOs, rather than blaming careless employees, seems like the right way to start. In the Japanese case, the management took the blame, because the punctuality required and penalties for workers trying to meet the targets were unreasonable, but were management choices, not the employees'.

 

[Ian H]

How many people have been arrested or charged after the Grenfell fire?

 

[cookiemonster]

I remember seeing a documentary about a terrible train crash in Japan, and the outcome of the enquiries supposedly led to a step change in priorities and the necessary culture of safety outweighing punctuality. This HK disaster must surely lead to a change in H&S, and arresting CEOs, rather than blaming careless employees, seems like the right way to start. In the Japanese case, the management took the blame, because the punctuality required and penalties for workers trying to meet the targets were unreasonable, but were management choices, not the employees'.

It'll spell the end of bamboo scaffolding for sure. The HK Gov were planning to phase out bamboo scaffolding by 2030 in favour of metal ones, lower safety risk and metal handles our humidity better.

 

[cookiemonster]

How many people have been arrested or charged after the Grenfell fire?

Unlike the UK, East Asia tends not to f*ck around when things like this happen.

 

[cookiemonster]

Materials may have failed to meet standards
Police say that in the building not affected by the blaze, every floor had protective nets, waterproof tarpaulin and plastic cloths. These materials may have failed to meet fire safety standards.
On each floor, styrofoam materials were used to seal windows, which could cause the rapid spread of fire.
Police say that at around 2am in Ngau Tau Kok, Tai Po and San Po Kong, officers arrested two directors and an engineering consultant, aged between 52 and 68, of a construction company.
Senior Superintendent Eileen Chung Lai-yee of the police force’s New Territories North regional headquarters says officers discovered that the foam materials were installed by a construction engineering company.
“Police have reason to believe that the company’s responsible persons were grossly negligent, which led to the incident and caused the fire to spread rapidly, resulting in serious casualties,” she says.

From the SCMP.