By SCOTT INGLIS
Ledges and railings at Queen St's Force Entertainment Centre will be raised to 1.3m after the fatal fall of Danial Gardner.
Force Corporation, which owns the centre, said last night that the work would start today, and would help ensure a similar tragedy never happened again.
The Herald revealed on Monday that the ledge from which Danial fell from was 94cm high - 6cm less than the building code legal minimum.
Force has been under fire from Danial's family and safety experts because of the ledge's height and the company's delay in improving safety.
Danial, a 16-year-old Sacred Heart College student, fell 30m after leaning back to sit on a rail on top of a concrete ledge outside the Imax theatre on September 22.
His friends tried to catch him as he fell on to a table in Borders bookstore below. He died soon after.
Force Corporation chairman Peter Francis said that work would begin immediately on raising the height of all ledges as part of a major safety review.
Toughened glass would be used to raise heights to between 1.2m and 1.3m - the same height as on the building's overhead bridges.
Once the changes were made, someone would be able to fall only after deliberately scale a ledge.
"The whole building is being looked at.
"The last thing we want is a tragedy like this again," Mr Francis said.
Asked why the ledges and railings had not been made higher from the start, Mr Francis said the building had met minimum standards and there were no guarantees a few extra centimetres would have saved Danial.
But he said "obviously in retrospect" the company should have made the changes.
Part of the review will examine the complex's escalators.
Auckland City councillor Maire Leadbeater in January wrote to Force expressing concern at the high, open escalators and the danger for young people.
She was told the 1m handrails exceeded legal minimums by 10cm.
Mr Francis said he and Force felt terrible about the tragedy.
Danial's father, Noel, was pleased Force was making the changes.
"But why have I had to fight so hard to get action on it?" he said.
Mr Gardner said Force had told him last Thursday that the ledges would not be altered.
He believed the publicity prompted a change of heart.
Mr Gardner said minimum building standards needed to be higher, and all operators of buildings used by the public should use this as a lesson to improve safety.
Meanwhile, Occupational Safety and Health has confirmed it is investigating Danial's accident.
There had been earlier confusion among officials as to whether the agency was investigating.
Teen's fatal fall prompts Force to improve safety
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