News / city centre
Investigation launched amid safety concerns at construction site
Safety concerns at a construction site in Bristol have been raised after a piece of metal fell onto the roof of a car “directly above” a 12-week-old baby.
“All that was between this and his car seat was the inner car roof fabric,” claimed Charlotte Collins.
The accountant heard an “almighty bang” only to find a length of metal on the vehicle leaving a dented hole in the roof.
Metres away from the incident sits a Galliford Try site, leading Collins to believe this was the metal’s source.
The construction group has launched an investigation to ascertain if the site on Cheese Lane was implicated in the incident.
A Galliford Try spokesperson told Bristol24/7: “As a responsible contractor, health and safety is the number one priority of all our site teams.
“We are aware of an incident near a site in central Bristol on Friday, and we are thoroughly investigating to establish whether our site was involved in any way.”
THRED Drove past a @gallifordtry Bristol site earlier where this piece of metal fell onto the roof of my car and made a hole directly above my 12 week old son’s head. All that was between this and his car seat was the inner car roof fabric. pic.twitter.com/jNVJoY4KES
— Charlotte Collins (@Charlot11085585) September 30, 2022
Collins wrote on Twitter: “Drove past a @gallifordtry Bristol site earlier where this piece of metal fell onto the roof of my car and made a hole directly above my 12 week old son’s head. All that was between this and his car seat was the inner car roof fabric.
“The company are denying any responsibility for this, and even gave the excuse that although they do use these on site, this particular piece is the wrong size and so it’s not from them.
“To make a HOLE in my car roof METAL, and to explain the almighty bang, this would have been dropped from serious height. The only tall building in the vicinity is the @gallifordtry site a few yards away. This apparently isn’t enough for them to prove it came from them.
“The site manager admitted that if this has hit someone it would have instantly killed them. If it had been dropped from a storey or two higher it could have even killed my baby in the car. We are now car-less as it’s been deemed unsafe to drive.”
Galliford Try is a British construction company based in Leicester – photo: Betty Woolerton
Galliford Try, Bell Hammer and AXA IM-Real Assets, are building the Assembly Bristol on Cheese Lane, a £50m mixed-use development consisting of 200,000 sqaure foot office and retail space across three buildings overlooking the Avon, adjacent to Temple Way.
Simon Burton, managing director of Galliford Try West Midlands and South West called it “one of the most prestigious projects in the city centre and the wider region.”
Main photo: Charlotte Collins
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