Safety

The crane driver involved in the ‘run-away’ crane that killed a farmer has been acquitted by a jury of any blame. Allan Woodrow was acquitted in under an hour at Bradford Crown Court of causing the death of Colin Chew by dangerous driving on March 26, 2009, and an alternative charge of causing his death by careless or inconsiderate driving.

New York City’s department of buildings has released a new report by consulting engineers Ove Arup on the tower crane collapse last March that killed seven people. The new report lays the blame squarely on improper use of slings, and also addresses the question of whether the friction base used at the foot of the crane may have contributed to the accident.

The tower crane erector/rigging contractor who was responsible for the crane that collapsed and killed seven people in Manhattan, had his license revoked today by New York’s Department of Buildings.

Predictive Solutions, Pittsburgh, Pa., announced that its customer, Turner Construction Co., was recognized by the Associated General Contractors of America as one of the safest construction companies in the United States with a 2011 Construction Safety and Excellence Award (CSEA).

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will introduce its new crane safety rules and initiatives on September first. They will include regulations that will stipulate the requirement for a comprehensive lifting plan to be developed and implemented before a lifting operation can be carried out, with an appointed person responsible.

RE: Structural Connection Points for Attaching Chain Hoists (load drifting) In power plants, refineries, aboard ships, in paper mill and other industrial settings, equipment must be installed or removed to…

A variety of industries use synthetic slings to move equipment and product on a daily basis. Like most other sling types, synthetic web slings and synthetic roundslings serve to help…

IPAF welcomes the position paper issued by the FEM Product Group for Cranes and Lifting Equipment, which states that cranes should not be used for lifting people, except in exceptional circumstances where safety requirements have been fulfilled and undertaken at the specific responsibility of the user.

New figures published in the UK this week show the number of employees killed in the UK construction industry last year has increased for the first time in four years. The Health and Safety Executive has released provisional data for the year to March 2011 which shows the number of workers killed was 50, an increase on the previous year, when 41 died – the majority on smaller construction sites. This is the first rise in deaths since 2006/7 when there were 79 fatalities .

Small employers and owner/operators of cranes are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to complying with OSHA’s new Cranes and Derricks in Construction rule. To a degree, it’s simply a manpower issue—these individuals have to wear many hats besides crane owner and operator, including salesperson, accountant, and safety director.