Scaffolding collapse in Prilly VD "At that hour, our workers were on the tenth floor"
Two of the three workers who died in the scaffolding collapse in Prilly VD worked for the PHIDA Group. Its CEO has now spoken about the accident.
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- On July 12, a construction site scaffolding collapsed in Prilly VD. Three workers died as a result.
- Two of the three fatalities worked for the PHIDA Group in Vaud. CEO Bastien Sauve has now commented on the accident.
- In an interview with "24 heures", Sauve explains, among other things, how he learned of the news and how the company is trying to support those affected.
It has been 18 days since three workers were killed when a 60-metre-high scaffolding collapsed in Prilly VD. Two of the fatalities were employed by the PHIDA Group. Its CEO Bastien Sauve has now spoken out about the fatal accident in an interview with "24 heures ".
When he heard the accident report on the radio that morning, Bastien Sauve initially thought it concerned a neighboring construction site. "Then someone mentioned the wooden tower in Malley. Our construction site. And I knew there were men from our company there."
Eight PHIDA employees were on the construction site at the time. They were probably smoking a cigarette at the time of the accident: "At that hour, they were finishing their break on the platforms on the tenth floor," Sauve is quoted as saying.
Support for relatives
The two PHIDA workers who died were a 30-year-old Frenchman and a 43-year-old Swiss-Tunisian. Another employee was seriously injured and is still in a critical condition in hospital. The third fatality, a 35-year-old from Cape Verde, was working for another construction company.
A psychological support cell was set up at PHIDA headquarters in Renens VD shortly after the deaths became known. "Of course we supported the families of the victims," says Sauve. The help included messages, funerals and the repatriation of the bodies to Tunisia and France.
The Frenchman's partner, who is six months pregnant, is also being supported. They are also considering setting up a support fund for all the victims in Prilly and their families.
Regular inspections
The cause of the accident is still being investigated by the public prosecutor's office. However, according to Bastien Sauve, there is a general safety risk in the construction industry when managing scaffolding. Especially as individual elements can be moved from one construction site to another.
The PHIDA Group therefore regularly inspects scaffolding unannounced. According to Sauve, there are more than 100 scaffolds per year - but not the one in Prilly.
