Posted By Ian G Hutchings
Just in case people who need to know this haven't seen it.


The Health and Safety Executive has issued a new warning to the industry on tower cranes today after the recent fatal accidents in Liverpool and Battersea.

The HSE’s technical alert for the construction sector warns operators to check high tensile bolt connections on tower cranes.

The alert states: “Those who own, operate and hire tower cranes should ensure that high tensile bolt connections, including those on masts, jibs and slew rings of their tower cranes, are correctly installed and pre-loaded (tensioned). Failure to do so could lead to the bolt connection failing, with catastrophic consequences.”

Operators are warned to follow HSE guidelines on using correct bolt connections, examining the connections before assembly, correct assembly and retensioning, as well as regular inspection.

Last week the HSE issued a prohibition notice against all 180 tower cranes owned and operated by Falcon Crane Hire, whose cranes were involved in collapses in Battersea and Liverpool where two construction workers and a member of the public were killed.

Posted By John Murgatroyd
This been posted before ?



Cranes grounded after collapses.

A construction equipment hire company has been ordered to take down 180 tower cranes after two collapsed and three people died. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served the prohibition notice on Falcon Crane Hire of Shipdam, Norfolk. The firm must take out of service all tower cranes in their fleet which have not been examined by an independent competent person. Cranes collapsed at Battersea in London in September and Liverpool on 15 January (Risks 290). The HSE announcement came on 19 January, just one day after the Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group (BCDAG) called for a blanket national ban on the use of Falcon's cranes. Battersea and Wandsworth TUC organiser and BCDAG member Julia Brandreth said the group had written to HSE 'to demand that prohibition notices are issued on all sites in the country using Falcon cranes until full independent safety inspections are carried out. We will not rest until crane-related deaths are eliminated.' After announcing the prohibition notice, an HSE spokesperson said: 'We have decided to adopt a precautionary approach and require the company to demonstrate those cranes which have been thoroughly examined by competent persons employed by them, are safe to continue in operation. Any lessons learnt from the investigations will be shared with the industry as soon as possible. The notice will affect up to 180 tower cranes which are erected currently on construction sites throughout Great Britain.' As a result of the Liverpool incident one person was killed and the driver of the crane was injured. At Battersea, in September 2006, Michael Alexa, 23, died when he was hit by the crane as he washed his car. The crane driver, Jonathan Cloke, was also killed. Speaking after the latest tragedy, BCDAG secretary Liliana Alexa, Michael's mother, said: 'I cannot believe that another innocent human being has suffered the same fate as my son. We urgently need more robust legislation on crane safety to protect workers and the public.'