Worker was worried about project safety
Pastor says the brother of man killed in London building collapse warned his crew
A concrete company co-owner whose brother was killed in the partial collapse of an under-construction apartment complex warned the site felt “unsafe” about 30 minutes earlier, the family pastor says.
Henry Harder, one of two workers killed, was working at the four-storey site along Wonderland Road in west London with his two brothers, one of whom, John Harder, expressed a safety concern that morning, Pastor Herman Bueckert told The London Free Press.
“John did mention about half an hour before the building (partially) collapsed that he had questioned the safety of the building,” said Bueckert, of Lighthouse Gospel Church in Port Burwell. “It was his own observation” to his crew.
Bueckert said he did not know whether John Harder shared his concerns with anyone beyond his crew. The Free Press asked to speak to Harder, but the pastor said he was traumatized and asked that Bueckert speak on his behalf instead. The building's owner says no safety issues were ever raised with them.
The partial collapse last Friday killed Henry Harder, 26, from Tillsonburg, and John Martens, 21, of Langton, and hurt five others. A probe into the cause continues.
The apartment complex is being built by a London firm, Brock Development Group. Michelle Doornbosch, president of the apartment project, said they “strongly enforce all safety protocols on all projects, including this one.”
On Thursday, Doornbosch told the Free Press: “At no point did anyone ever say the site was unsafe,” noting Ontario's Ministry of Labour “visited the site on numerous occasions prior to the collapse and confirmed we had all safety measures in place.”