This was the day on the costruction site, I will never forget!
In the morning, I woke up as usual, made some breakfast for me and my daughter, got her to preschool and drove to work. It was just one of the busy days 3 September 2013, on the construction site of the new factory.
My days, filled with supervising the work of subcontractors, something around 200 people. Fitters, welders, electricians … everyone was in a hurry to force the progress before the winter is arrived. As a construction manager I had to make sure the construction is going smoothly, everyone is on schedule and the construction regulations fallowed. Beside me, there was one safety manager on the site as well. Every single day we tried to avoid critical situations by supervising the process of work and, of course, some of the workers weкe under closer attention. The biggest concern for us, were definitely the fitters, they were all young, brave as a young man can be! Fearless and quick in decisions, whether they are good or bad…
My usual day on the construction site usually started with coffee...a lot of coffee... In the morning, I woke up as usual, made some breakfast for me and my daughter, got her to preschool and drove to work. It was just one of the common busy days 3 September 2013, on the construction site of the new factory. My days, filled with supervising the work of subcontractors, something around 200 people. Fitters, welders, electricians … everyone was in a hurry to force the progress before the winter is arrived.
As a construction manager I had to make sure the construction is going smoothly, everyone is on schedule and the construction regulations fallowed. Beside me, there was one safety manager on the site as well. Every single day we tried to avoid critical situations by supervising the process of work and, of course, some of the workers weкe under closer attention. The biggest concern for us, were definitely the fitters, they were all young, brave as a young man can be! Fearless and quick in decisions, whether they are good or bad… Another cup of coffee and I was ready to run through the site for everyday morning supervision and checking. Busy day promised to be hot (unusual for September) just like in the middle of summer. I personally, hate summers on the site, and you know why?
Because it is hard to work with the hot weather, people start to remove clothes, safety belts and helmets! True! As a human being, I do understand that, for instance, during the welding it is a hell of hot in a helmet and not always comfortable with wearing the welding mask as well…. However, the rules are rules… And the rules, of course, made to be broken! During the supervision, I had not noticed nothing unusual, just common notifications. Having an important meeting at 12.00, I decided to have a quick lunch at 11.30, planning to be back on time. Therefore, I did… However, when I came back I saw the ambulance… my heart dropped! I remember running to my bass, asking what happened, he just sad, that one of the fitters felt down… I just knew it was one of the youngest ones. Alex, 24-year-old boy!
Why I knew? Because, he was caught several times breaking the safety rules… but always coming back to the site as one of the best workers of subcontractors company… The boy went to fix the metal flooring on the construction; he wanted to do things fast and did not had his safety belt fixed, slipped and few down for 20 meters, crushing to the concrete floor…. As a construction supervisor I had to make photos of the place of the tragedy…while safety manager was in shock, I had to do this.. Blood all over the floor, safety helmet several meters away, my nerves was on the edge, but I just tried to stay strong, just making photos of the blood and brain ..
This day will always be on my mind! I cried all evening that day, holding my oun child, uderstanding how fragile we are!!! And that I have to be safe to get home to ones i love!
My work have never been the same again, I saw the worst could happened and it helped me to become harder. From that day I learned to be strict, making money penalties, dismissing people from the job when the safety rules are broken! Thanks to GOD and prayers of the family and friends, Alex survived that horrible accident! It is really a miracle! I can only be happy for his daughter (2 years that moment), who will have the chance to know her father! Safety first! My days on the construction now begin with safety checking not with coffee!
P.S. Alex is alive, his health is getting better with physiotherapy, but he is never the same again! Partly disabled, he now work as a mechanic fixing the cars, but in the talks, he always mentions is dream to work in the high once again!