Geoff Wilkinson ICIOB with Angela Rippon on Holiday Hit Squad
Last week’s episode of the prime time TV show Holiday Hit Squad featured a guest appearance by Geoff Wilkinson ICIOB, vice chairman of the CIOB’s Building Control and Standards Faculty.
The BBC 1 programme, presented by newsreader veteran Angela Rippon and ex-Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton, looks at the problems and dangers that can befall unwary British holidaymakers abroad.
In last Thursday’s episode, Rippon interviewed Wilkinson as part of an investigation into the perils of hotel balconies, focused on a young man whose fall from a balcony in Thailand left him with horrific head injuries.
Lee Charry had returned to his hotel from a night out on the island of Ko Tao. He is thought to have fallen 7m onto his head from the balcony, which was very low and provided insufficient protection as a guard. Thai doctors were forced to cut away a quarter of his skull to cope with the swelling in his brain.
But Charry can consider himself lucky – last year seven Britons were killed as a result of falling from hotel balconies.
Wilkinson, a building inspector with more than 30 years’ experience, told Rippon: “In the UK we have minimum standards covering balcony height, but unfortunately there is no EU-wide or worldwide standard. UK Building Regulations require a minimum guard height of 1.1m, which is determined by the tipping point of the human body. The human body is heavier on the top than the bottom, the centre of gravity is going to be above a metre in height so you’re not likely to tip over there.”
Speaking to CM, Wilkinson noted that the UK standard for balcony height also needs updating as it hasn’t changed since the 1970s and the population is growing taller and heavier, effectively raising their centre of gravity and making guarding less effective.
This balcony in Thailand would not have met British building standards
The drop led to Lee Charry suffering horrific head injuries
“There’s also a trend to move away from the traditional vertical balustrades at 100mm centres, as recommended by Building Control, towards new products involving glass boxes or tensile wires, none of which perform with the same level of safety. It’s a worry as children have been proven to have a tendency to climb these types of structure.”
He also urged tour operators to take responsibility to ensure that safety standards are being applied in hotels they send British holiday makers to.
Wilkinson was interviewed by Rippon on a balcony on the Oxo Tower development in London for a programme watched by several millions of viewers. He said it was a once in a lifetime experience, adding: “Angela is an immense professional and really comes across with all of the expertise you would expect of someone with 50-odd years experience in prime time TV. I’ve done other TV interviews but she was a class apart in terms of how she conducted herself.”
He also urged tour operators to take responsibility to ensure that safety standards were being applied in hotels they send British holidaymakers to.
You can watch Wilkinson on Holiday Hit Squad here.
