Royal Canberra Hospital implosion

The Royal Canberra Hospital implosion was a failed building implosion with lethal consequences. The implosion occurred on July 13, 1997, when the city's superseded hospital buildings at Acton Peninsula on Lake Burley Griffin were demolished to make way for the National Museum of Australia.

The Royal Canberra Hospital closed on 27 November 1991. In April 1995 the Keating Government agreed in principle with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government to exchange certain sites of land within the ACT to facilitate the building of the National Museum. In July 1995 a feasibility study was undertaken for the demolition and clearance of the buildings on Acton Peninsula. On 4 August 1995 the ACT Cabinet approved a submission recommending the implosion method of demolition. On Friday 13 December 1996 the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced the design work on Acton Peninsula for the National Museum would begin immediately. The next day, a fence was erected around the site.cite web | last = Madden (ACT Coroner) | first = Shane G. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1999 | url = http://www.courts.act.gov.au/magistrates/dec/bender/Sect01.htm | title = General Chronology and Overview | work = The Bender Coronial Decision | publisher = ACT Magistrates Court and Tribunals (Coroner's Court) | accessdate = 2007-03-07]

The demolition had been planned for some time, and the ACT Government decided to turn the building implosion into a spectator event. Over 100,000 people, one of the largest crowds in Canberra's history, came out to bid farewell to the birthplace of many Canberra residents.

However, the implosion was a terrible failure. The main building did not fully disintegrate and had to be later manually demolished. But far worse, the explosion was not contained on the site and large pieces of debris were projected towards spectators situated 500 metres away on the opposite side of the Lake, in a location that nobody considered unsafe or inappropriate. A twelve year old girl, Katie Bender, was killed instantly, and nine other people were injured. Large fragments of masonry and metal were found 650 metres from the demolition site.

The ACT Government led by Kate Carnell came in for sustained criticism,cite web | last = Madden (ACT Coroner) | first = Shane G. | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 1999 | url = http://www.courts.act.gov.au/magistrates/dec/bender/Sect09.htm | title = The publice event - an issue of public safety | work = The Bender Coronial Decision | publisher = ACT Magistrates Court and Tribunals (Coroner's Court) | accessdate = 2007-03-07] [cite news | first= Fiona | last= Reynolds | author= | url= http://www.abc.net.au/am/stories/s64319.htm | title=Increasing pressure on ACT Chief Minister | work= AM (ABC Radio) Archive | publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date= 1999-11-05 | accessdate= 2007-03-07] and a number of official enquiries were held. Many people complained the event should never have been made a public spectacle, as this was inviting disaster. Other people felt that this was unfair, as implosions around the world generally excited local interestFact|date=March 2007 and had had an enviable safety record. Further, the near-record Canberra crowd had legitimised the event by their very presence.

ACT WorkCover is the authority responsible for administering, implementing and enforcing legislation in the Australian Capital Territory covering occupational health and safety (OH&S), workers' compensation, dangerous substances and labour regulation. The coroner found that the authority did not follow established safety processes. It failed to ensure that the explosive workplan required by the ACT Demolition Code of Practice was met. It also failed to scrutinise departures from the original demolition workplans and to issue appropriate prohibition notices in accordance with the OH&S Act to ensure the methodology was safe, not only to the workplace employees but also to the public.cite web | last = Yates | first = Athol | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = 2001 | url = http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/shadomx/apps/fms/fmsdownload.cfm?file_uuid=1D3C4605-EFE1-594E-7852-4DCCF62AABA8&siteName=ieaust | title = The nexus between regulation enforcement and catastrophic engineering failures | format = pdf | work = The Australian Earthquake Engineering Society 2001 Conference | publisher = Institution of Engineers Australia | accessdate = 2007-03-08]

References

External links

* [http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an13459476 Photographic collection - Royal Canberra Hospital Implosion - James Nomarhas 1951-]