At the time of writing this week’s column, it appears that two out of three UK blasts scheduled for this weekend have been temporarily postponed. Furthermore, it appears that those postponements were at the specific behest of the Health and Safety Executive, even though there is no suggestion of specific danger.

Sadly, it seems that these postponements are a manifestation of a nervousness and uncertainty that has swirled about the sector for the past few months, quite possibly since the Didcot disaster at the end of February. Such concerns have been exacerbated by subsequent issues at Harworth and Seaforth, the causes of which are yet to be determined and reported.

And even when the joint forces of Dem-Master, Safedem and C&D Consultancy successfully dropped Norfolk Court in a textbook blast this time last week, the client publicly expressed a degree of relief that the explosives had performed properly here, possibly suggesting that they had failed to do so previously. New Gorbals Housing Association said “…reports from within the industry suggesting problems experienced on the Liverpool Seaforth blocks may in part have been caused by defective explosives – the same explosive type and same supplier, EPC, used for Norfolk Court…”

Although issues with the explosives are yet to be confirmed, it is clear that we are operating in a world of heightened scrutiny; a butterfly effect that can trace its source back to Didcot and the Health and Safety Executive’s knee-jerk reaction to the tragic accident.

That accident has acted like a stone dropped into a still pool of water; the effects rippling through the industry both here and overseas. We have already heard several reports of US contractors being quizzed about the likely cause of the Didcot disaster ahead of implosions in the US; and many UK contractors will have experienced an upturn in HSE inspections as an indirect result.

Unfortunately, the demolition pond is relatively small; its waters shallow. And the ripples created on 23 February are likely to cause waves for some time to come