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Local Round-Up: Two deaths in two days puts construction industry under the spotlight

Li Li
July 12th, 2022


This article is more than 2 years old.

A young man passed away in connection with a work accident in Nordhavn in Copenhagen at the end of June.

Government has yet to reach out (photo: Pixabay)

A young man passed away in connection with a building trade accident in Nordhavn in Copenhagen at the end of June. The man’s employer was MT Højgaard – one of the Nordic region’s largest construction companies.

The fatal accident happened the day after a Zurface employee lost his life in a work accident involving a concrete block on Prøvestenen in Copenhagen. 

The fatalities follow a trend that has seen the number of accidents at construction sites increase from 2020 to 2021 – a clear sign that the Danish construction industry is under pressure to improve its safety.

It is an industry problem
“It is an industry problem and not just a single company’s problem,” Flemming Hansen, an environmental consultant at 3F, told TV2.

Anne Birgitte Bonde, the work environment and quality manager at MT Højgaard, also blames the industry as a whole. “It is about instruction, equipment, and something cultural – in relation to what you do and what you do not do,” she said.

MT Højgaard is now in the process of a thorough investigation of the case to find out where to tighten up in the future. Extra staff has also been deployed on the construction site, focusing exclusively on the working environment and safety.


Engine fire caused on a passenger plane
A British Airways jet caught fire shortly after it touched down from London at Copenhagen Airport last Wednesday evening. Danish police said on Twitter that the plane was evacuated after the fire broke out in one of the engines. The fire was finally extinguished, and no-one was injured.

New hotel in Carlsberg district a good alternative for tourists, claims marketer
The Brøchner Hotels chain recently opened the new Hotel Ottilia in Carlberg Byen. While Carlsberg is not a district associated with hotels and tourism, it has been the right choice, contends Maja Whitta Lindeløv, the sales and marketing manager of Brøchner Hotels, to TV2. She believes that a new trend is emerging among tourists that people want to experience something other than what you might call the usual tourist traps in the city centre.

Aquarium attracting Danes through humorous videos
Before the corona crisis, as Northern Europe’s largest aquarium, over 60 percent of The Blue Planet’s guests came from abroad. But for two years, the aquarium has been completely dependent on Danish visitors, which has made it use humorous videos and a jam-packed program to attract locals. With its recent eel video, which received over 440,000 views, the Blue Planet is convinced that humour and determination are qualities that the Danes reward. Check out more videos from The Blue Planet on its Facebook page.

Copenhagen’s new peninsula and storm surge protection project
The first guided walking and sailing trip around Lynetteholm was held on Tuesday 21 June by By & Havn, an organisation tasked with the development of Ørestad and the port of Copenhagen and the daily operations of the latter.  Questions related to the construction of Lynetteholm were asked by participants during the trip. Check here to find out more about Lynetteholm.

New artificial turf pitch inaugurated in Ørestad
Ørestad IF’s new temporary artificial turf pitch was recently inaugurated – a short-term solution to the dearth of football facilities in the area. It will be joined in the autumn by a number of other street facilities to meet the general need for more sports activities in the district.

Chefs from renowned pizzeria Bæst open new pizzeria
Three former chefs from the renowned pizzeria Bæst are opening a new restaurant in Nørrebro this summer. Diamond Slice at Blågårdsgade 27 will sell a type of pizza that they believe is lacking here in Copenhagen: the ‘New Yorker style’. The pizzas tend to have a thin bottom, crispy crust, sweet tomato sauce, cheese and maybe a little pepperoni.

Opening of long-awaited café postponed
Jan Fruergaard and Søren Terkelsen have postponed the opening of their new café, Picniq, which was to open in Valbyparken on August 1. It will now open on October 1.

Copenhagen’s longest bicycle street is in construction
In 18 months’ time, Østerbro will open its first bicycle street, which will also be Copenhagen’s longest. It is a long-standing issue that the residents of Nordre Frihavnsgade have to send their children out on bicycles between trucks and cars. But its transformation into a modern bicycle street means they won’t need to worry anymore.

Fire at Svanemøllen Station paralyzes train traffic
A fire broke out on the track at Svanemøllen Station on Saturday. Both the police and the fire brigade arrived quickly and dealt with the situation.

Stolen stones of Denmark’s most expensive estate have appeared
Stones stolen from the country’s most expensive villa, which is located at Poul Møllers Vej 7 in Frederiksberg, have finally been returned. Some 800 kilos of stone was stolen from the 27 million kroner property, which led to a 5,000 kroner for information being offered. Two months later an anonymous letter provided the location of the stones.

21-year-old prison escapee caught in Vesterbro
Copenhagen Police arrested a prison escapee in an apartment in Copenhagen on July 7. The 21-year-old man escaped from Rensbæk Statsfængsel in Sønderjylland on July 3. The man was returned to Rensbæk Statsfængsel.


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A survey carried out by Megafon for TV2 has found that 71 percent of parents have handed over children to daycare in spite of them being sick.

Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

Pill pushers
At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”