Pedestrian crushed to death by panel at Tokyo building demolition site

Police said they are questioning the site foreman to see if safety procedures were lax before the accident

Ya think?

Japan is an occupational safety inspector's worst nightmare. Just this week I saw workers grinding metal with no eye protection and another crew placing 5-meter-long iron girders wearing sneakers and construction tabi (i.e., no toe protection).

安全第二　at best. If that was at all possible for this to happen, the sidewalk should have been closed to pedestrians.

lucabrasi: "Would you rather walk through the streets of Moss Side in Manchester (UK) or Yokohama at two in the morning?"

Why, is that when they do construction with lax safety standards (if any)? This morning I nearly got hit by a car because a private construction company had the old men with wands out funelling traffic into one lane and they couldn't seem to agree if the oncoming car should proceed or not after letting me through.

And this is not at all the first time cranes have dropped cement blocks on workers or passersby, or people had accidents because of the poor safety standards here.

And no, it's not a 'safety country', and AKB is not kidding. Sure, safe compared to downtown Tikrit or high crime areas a lot of big cities, but then you also have to keep in mind big cities here don't like to report half their crimes -- or just like to leave 80,000 or more (once they're caught and have to reveal it) out of official records.

Eeeeeeeh!!!??? It is chooooo dangerous on the streets of Tokyo!

wearing sneakers and construction tabi (i.e., no toe protection).

How do you know that? Many sneakers and tabi have toe protection.

I've often seen workers in scaffolding without any form of protection >_> whyy

If the panel was unsupported, safety procedures were lax at some point.

I seldom see an area being worked on that does not have at least one security man apologizing for the inconvenience. I do always look up if something is being worked on above me. Accidents do happen. Sorry for this person who lost his life this way and for his family.

Years ago... Japanese workers worked for one company and were well trained. They worked for companies that offered life time employment. More recently due to increasing costs and competition along with labor laws changing... many workers are part time or hired with a short term contract. The workers from years ago understood safety quite well but recently training has been weak and more accidents have been happening.

Ill never forget walking under a construction site on the pedestrian walkway in Tsukiji with my 3 year old in a pram. Suddenly a metal spanner comes shooting down and lands on the hood. If I hadnt had the hood up it would have landed right on her head.

Construction sites aren't all that safe in the best case but safety is really lax in Japan. Poor guy never saw it coming. If this was the US the lawyers would be lining up outside the widow's door.