21.10.2023

Fatal scaffold platform collapse

An incident in Sao Paolo, Brazil on Tuesday left nine men dangling from their lanyards at a height of around 140 metres, when a suspended scaffold deck collapsed.
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Sadly, one of the men lost his life, while another was hospitalised with suspension trauma related injuries. The scaffold was located on a structure connecting two 33 storey buildings, under construction in Chácara Santo Antônio, on the South side of São Paulo.

In addition to the fire and emergency response a local military police helicopter was brought in, but most of the men were rescued by one of the tower cranes, using a man basket. A local news bulletin is hosted below.
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Most of the men were rescued by the tower crane

The main contractor and developer for the project, which is due for completion in 2025 is Eztec it has issued a statement, a translation of which we publish in full below:

“As reported, last Tuesday afternoon (10/17), an accident occurred at the construction site of one of our projects that, unfortunately, killed a worker from one of our contractors. An irreparable loss that we all mourn very much.

The accident also involved eight outsourced workers who were rescued safely and are now with their respective families. We know that a scenario like this also has the potential to impact all our employees – especially the members of the teams allocated to the works we have in progress – and stakeholders who are linked to the company's day to day operations.

With this in mind, in addition to the support that we and our partners are providing to those involved, we are also carrying out internal actions with the operational teams in order to reflect on the event and reinforce our premises for work safety, especially in relation to our contractors.

We continue to follow the company's guidelines and basic premises, as well as collaborating extensively with the competent authorities.

We take this opportunity to thank the solidarity we receive from the ecosystem in which we operate, all this support is essential to remain firm in carrying out our work.

All of us at EZTEC deeply regret what happened and we are following the developments of this event closely to ensure, together with our partners, all assistance to the victim's family and workers.