Didcot Power Station - events and incidents, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[onthecushions]

Regarding the prohibition on the Army carrying out civilian demolition work, I wonder if this should be reviewed ?

Under normal conditions I do not feel it correct for the publicly funded armed forces to in effect compete with profit making civilian demolition contractors.

However I feel that the rules should be altered to permit of exceptions in truly exceptional cases, requiring perhaps the personal permission of the Prime mister or home secretary.

I remember the tale of a farmer colleague in Kent in 1987 after the great storm, with his country lane access blocked by fallen trees. The attending RE^▸ (Religious Education) officer asked him how quickly he wanted the road re-opened, 3 hours or 30 minutes!

OTC

[TonyK]

The repair of the Grand Western Canal was made considerably easier by the use of a Chinook helicopter. I believe it was offered gratis with the operation being done under the guise of a training exercise.

[Tim]

The SAS helped out the National Trust in air dropping bags of soil "as a training exercise" on the summit of Pen-y-Fan to  be used in repairing erosion damage. 

I know because as an 18 year old, I spent a week with a dozen others man-handing (with wheelbarrows and sack trucks) the bags from where they were dropped to where they were supposed to have been dropped. 

[TonyK]

Same old story - how many embassies did they blow up before they got the right one?

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Didcot collapse probe 'in latter stages', police say



The investigation into the deaths of four men in the collapse at Didcot Power Station nine years ago is moving "towards the latter stages", police have said.

On 23 February 2016 part of the old boiler house at the Didcot A plant collapsed, killing Ken Cresswell, John Shaw, Michael Collings and Christopher Huxtable.

Demolition News editor Mark Anthony said it was "a national disgrace" that their families were still waiting for answers.

Thames Valley Police said its joined investigation with the Health and Safety Executive "continues to make meaningful progress". The force said it was "actively investigating" offences of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and Health and Safety at Work Act offences.


John Shaw, Christopher Huxtable, Michael Collings and Ken Cresswell (clockwise from top left) died in the collapse nine years ago

It took more than six months for the men's bodies to be recovered and family members of the victims previously said they were finding waiting for the investigation to conclude "really hard".

Last year, Mr Anthony started a petition calling for a pubic inquiry into the time it has taken. "Unfortunately, it is not without precedent," he said, comparing it to the investigations into Hillsborough and Grenfell. "There's been no pressure from the Home Office or the home secretary to make the police at Thames Valley... get everything resolved any quicker."

"To date, the investigation team has collated and analysed over 6,500 exhibits, 90,000 images, and 230,000 digital media artefacts," Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said. "Over 180 hours of video recorded witness and suspect interviews have been conducted, in addition to the 2,812 statements taken."  He said while "a specific timeframe" for its conclusion could not be specified, they were "confident that we are moving towards the latter stages" of enquiries. "Our officers continue to provide regular updates to the families on the investigation progress, as well as to the Crown Prosecution Service."

Mr Anthony said: "The entire demolition world is looking to the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive for some answers, so that they can send in men and women to work safely. And nine years later, we still can't do that."

Olly Glover, the newly elected MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Didcot and Wantage, said he was "putting pressure" on the police to make progress. "But also the investigation does need to be allowed to conclude in a way that gets all of the evidence to the surface," he said.

Site owner RWE Power said "Our thoughts remain with the families of the four men who died in this tragic incident. We continue to cooperate fully with Thames Valley Police."

The Home Office said it would not comment while the investigation was ongoing.

[Electric train]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Didcot collapse probe 'in latter stages', police say



The investigation into the deaths of four men in the collapse at Didcot Power Station nine years ago is moving "towards the latter stages", police have said.

On 23 February 2016 part of the old boiler house at the Didcot A plant collapsed, killing Ken Cresswell, John Shaw, Michael Collings and Christopher Huxtable.

Demolition News editor Mark Anthony said it was "a national disgrace" that their families were still waiting for answers.

Thames Valley Police said its joined investigation with the Health and Safety Executive "continues to make meaningful progress". The force said it was "actively investigating" offences of corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and Health and Safety at Work Act offences.


John Shaw, Christopher Huxtable, Michael Collings and Ken Cresswell (clockwise from top left) died in the collapse nine years ago

It took more than six months for the men's bodies to be recovered and family members of the victims previously said they were finding waiting for the investigation to conclude "really hard".

Last year, Mr Anthony started a petition calling for a pubic inquiry into the time it has taken. "Unfortunately, it is not without precedent," he said, comparing it to the investigations into Hillsborough and Grenfell. "There's been no pressure from the Home Office or the home secretary to make the police at Thames Valley... get everything resolved any quicker."

"To date, the investigation team has collated and analysed over 6,500 exhibits, 90,000 images, and 230,000 digital media artefacts," Deputy Chief Constable Ben Snuggs said. "Over 180 hours of video recorded witness and suspect interviews have been conducted, in addition to the 2,812 statements taken."  He said while "a specific timeframe" for its conclusion could not be specified, they were "confident that we are moving towards the latter stages" of enquiries. "Our officers continue to provide regular updates to the families on the investigation progress, as well as to the Crown Prosecution Service."

Mr Anthony said: "The entire demolition world is looking to the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive for some answers, so that they can send in men and women to work safely. And nine years later, we still can't do that."

Olly Glover, the newly elected MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Didcot and Wantage, said he was "putting pressure" on the police to make progress. "But also the investigation does need to be allowed to conclude in a way that gets all of the evidence to the surface," he said.

Site owner RWE Power said "Our thoughts remain with the families of the four men who died in this tragic incident. We continue to cooperate fully with Thames Valley Police."

The Home Office said it would not comment while the investigation was ongoing.

9 years is a long time, but it is a complex incident to investigate and the Police and HSE^▸ (Health and Safety Executive) will want to go for the highest charges they can.  I suspect there are a number of executives and board directors member of the companies in position at the time are sweating. 

Prime Minister William Gladstone said 1868  "justice delayed is justice denied" it is used to describe the situation when someone who has been injured is not given a remedy in a timely manner, in the Didcot Power Station incident is it not better to get the right prosecutions and not just go for the easy and quick, I want to see CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer)'s, Board Directors, senior managers in the dock being held accountable and not just some poor lower managers and supervisors left to carry the can (unless they dod do something wrong of course)