The Hazards Campaign

The Hazards Campaign
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PRESS RELEASE Battersea Crane Action Disaster Group • Tuesday 7 August 2007 • no embargo

Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group sets out ‘crane safety manifesto’ for industry crane summit

The Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group will be joining key industry figures at Thursday 9 August’s crane summit in central London.

The BCDAG sees Thursday’s meeting as a positive move by the industry and an indication that pressure from the action group and other health & safety pressure groups is having an impact.

Talking is one thing, however. What is needed to fast and decisive action to stop crane deaths.

Liliana Alexa, mother of Michael Alexa who died in the Battersea fatalities, and secretary of the BCDAG said,

“We’re glad that the industry is talking and trying to find solutions but action is what’s important. We’ll be looking for clear and decisive action from the tower crane industry out of Thursday’s meeting. Deaths through crane collapses and accidents aren’t just statistics they are lives destroyed. We want the industry to understand that no deaths are acceptable. Crane deaths must end now.”

BCDAG group member Julia Brandreth, who will be representing the BCDAG at Thursday’s meeting said, “We’re pleased to have been invited to the summit meeting but disappointed that other relevant organisations, such as the Construction Safety Campaign and Families Against Corporate Killers haven’t been invited. The Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group is one voice of public opinion on crane safety but by no means the only one. We’d like to see the tower crane industry listening to all interested parties on crane safety.”

Please see the submission to the 9 August Strategic Forum Tower Crane meeting to be held at 1pm at the Construction Confederation, 55 Tufton St, SW1P 3QL.

For further information, contact Julia Brandreth julia@bwtuc.org.uk 07940 578219 or Liliana Alexa on 07859 047677.

BATTERSEA CRANE DISASTER ACTION GROUP
C/o BWTUC, 347 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4DX

Summary of issues and solutions from the Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group to Tower Crane meeting 9 August 2007 at the Construction Confederation

1) HSE Resources – these are insufficient to ensure crane safety

Solution There should be more inspectors making more inspections, including random checks on crane safety (rather than being involved in the process only after an incident has taken place). Where there is an adverse insurance report on a crane there must be an inspection by an HSE inspector within 2 weeks.

2) Enforcement of the law on building sites – this is currently insufficient

Solution There needs to be a stronger enforcement policy from the HSE and stronger rights for union reps. Increased regulation on training and working hours is needed to ensure site safety. It is the view of the Battersea Crane Disaster Action Group that the best way to ensure site safety is for building companies and contractors (including crane operators) to encourage trade union membership amongst their workforce and contractors’ workforces and the presence on sites of trade union health and safety reps. It is also the view of the action group that direct employment would significantly increase site safety. The industry as a whole needs to revisit its attitude to workers who raise health & safety concerns. These people should in no way be victimised for raising legitimate concerns.

3) Crane safety legislation is insufficient

Solution There needs to be a thorough review of crane safety legislation – most particularly all cranes should be independently inspected and certified fit for use.

1) The current law is inadequate - The law on crane safety is contained in the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). There is no specific law on cranes – they are covered in a general reference to ‘lifting equipment’. Regulation 9(1) states that ‘Every employer shall ensure that before lifting equipment is put into service for the first time by him it is thoroughly examined for any defect…’ Regulation 9(3)(b) states that ‘if appropriate for the purpose, is inspected by a competent person at suitable intervals between thorough examinations’.

One of the problems here is that the competent person can be employed by the company who owns the crane or has leased it. Guidance Note 295 states that ‘It is essential that the competent person is sufficiently independent and impartial to allow objective decisions to be made’.

This begs the question if independence and impartiality are essential why is this not made legally enforceable or at the very least in the Approved Code of Practice. As it stands HSE Guidance can be ignored by employers and unfortunately it so often is. There is a case for saying that anyone employed by the company will not be independent and impartial. That is why the BCDAG argued successfully for Barratts to use an outside examiner following the accident in Battersea.

Increased legislation/regulation and awareness-raising is also needed in the following areas:

a) where there is more than one crane in operation on a site ie avoidance of collisions between cranes
b) where cranes are used in proximity to occupied buildings

4) There is a lack of centralised data on cranes

Solution All cranes to be registered on a central register. This should be publicly available and include information on safety checks that have been carried out.

5) There appears to be little or no regulation on crane age or usage

Solution Cranes to be taken out of use after an agreed age or agreed amount of usage

Press release Monday 13 August 2007

The Hazards Campaign, c/o Greater Manchester Hazards Centre, Windrush Millennium Centre, 70 Alexandra Road,
Manchester, M16 7WD . website www.hazardscampaign.org.uk