Health & Safety

Crane Safety Summit Highlights Training

Key industry figures have agreed on a raft of issues to be tackled to improve tower crane safety.

The machines have come under the spotlight after a spate of collapses in recent months.

A seven point action plan was agreed at the Strategic Forum summit called by John Spanwick, chairman of the Strategic Forum Health and Safety Group. These include site-specific inductions, better training and improved maintenance regimes.

They also said main contractors needed to allow more time for inspection and maintenance work and vast improvements needed to be made to working conditions.

Most continental cranes include hoists to help operators to reach their cabs and UK cranes should have similar equipment. Workers should also be allowed time to come down for breaks.

January 2008