| I recently was
sent a notice that a bill is being prepared that, if passed,
will greatly reduce the safety requirements in Oklahoma buildings,
especially in rural towns. The bill will basically exempt all
towns under a population of 5,000 from using an architect on
any building. That means churches, schools, stadiums, restaurants,
everything, could be built without meeting code. That also means
about 90 percent of Oklahoma, since our state is made up of
largely small towns.
This bill would eventually lead to unsafe design
conditions, and would create a situation where a disaster will
be waiting to happen.
Last year, when at the capitol, I was told that
there has been resistance by a key legislator to tighten up
our laws, who did not believe that safety was an issue in Oklahoma.
He reportedly said, (I am paraphrasing) “show me the bodies,
then we’ll do something about it”.
Well, here are the bodies. You can find a whole
list of them at http://www.crowddynamics.com/Main/Crowddisasters.html,
but here is just a partial list of what you will find at that
website.
In 1902, 26 people were killed and 500 were
injured when a grandstand collapsed in Glasgow.
It happened again in 1961 in Glasgow, when another grandstand
collapsed, killing 3 and injuring 35.
In 1964, 300 died at an Olympic qualifying match. When a referee
made an unpopular call, the crowd rioted, and the deaths occurred
during the resulting stampede of panicking people from the stadium.
In 1968, 74 people died in a stampede in a stadium in Buenos
Aires. The deaths occurred at a locked exit door.
In 1982, 340 people died in a stampede at a European Cup Match
in Moscow.
In 1990, 1,426 people died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, when people
panicked in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel.
In 1992, 50 were injured in Rio de Janerio when they fell from
an upper level seating area when a fence gave way.
In 1996, 83 were killed and 160 injured during a World Cup qualifying
match in Guatamala City.
In 1999, 53 people were killed when a crowd raced to get out
of the rain at a train station in Belarus.
In 2000, 9 people in Denmark were killed at a concert when they
slipped and fell in mud in front of a stage. They were trampled
by the crowd.
In 2001, 47 were killed and hundreds injured by crushing crowds
at the Ellis Park Stadium in Johannasburg, South Africa. 120,000
people had pressed into a stadium that was only intended to
hold 68,000.
In 2002, 21 children died in Beijing, China, when a guard rail
gave way in a stairwell when the lights went out in a power
failure.
In 2004, 51 died at a wedding in Bombay, India when decorations
caught fire in a temple.
On August 3rd of last year, a fire broke out
in a supermarket in Asuncion, Paraguay, the result of a gas
explosion. As panicked patrons rushed toward the exits, the
owner reported ordered the doors to be locked to prevent people
from leaving without paying. As a result, over three hundred
people died, and over a hundred were injured, some seriously.
They owner, his son, and the security guards were placed under
arrest pending the investigation.
So far all of these happened in other countries?
Why do you suppose that is?
In the United States, we have been using the
building codes to preemptively save lives for many years. The
codes work, if there is someone who knows how to use and apply
them, and if they are enforced. Virtually all of the examples
in this article may have been prevented if the facilities had
been properly designed.
We have had our share of disastrous fires and
crushing tragedies. I have written a number of articles about
large casualty fires and other situations that have occurred
here in America.
These kinds of things happen when the codes
are not used. Any of these situations could happen in any school
in Oklahoma. That is exactly what can happen if our legislators
do not do something to require that buildings meet code in this
state.
Please call your State Representative and your
State Senator and let them know how important this is. We don’t
want Oklahoma to become a third-world country when it comes
to safety. |
