Date of article: 23/08/2007
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The boss of the demolition contractor at the centre of a fatal accident inquiry in London has brought in independent safety experts to find out exactly what went wrong.
An employee of Croydon demolition contractor 777 was killed instantly when a beam struck him from just 1m while he was working on a scheme to pull down a 1960s office block in the Elephant & Castle area of the capital.
It is being torn down to make way for the 42-storey Castle House residential tower which will be built by Multiplex.
It is understood the man was wearing a hard hat and personal protective equipment.
The Health and Safety Executive is carrying out a seperate investigation but 777 managing director Michael Pearce has asked two former HSE inspectors to produce a report into the tragedy by next week.
He said: "I want to know chapter and verse what has happened. My focus is to find out what took place and if it's something to do with us, then we can do something about it.
"We are all devastated by it and we will be reviewing everything. Our deepest condolences go to the man's family."
It is the first time the firm has been involved in a fatal accident in its 40-year history.
The worker, who has not been named, died last week while carrying out work on the top floor to the block. The firm has 60 employees and around 15 were working on the scheme at the time of the accident.
777 is due to finish its £1 million contract in September.
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