Falcon Hire helps HSE in crane death review

Further details are emerging about the crane collapse at Barratt Homes’ Viridian site in Battersea, south London, last week that killed two people.

Falcon Crane Hire of Thetford, Norfolk, supplied and erected the crane, manufactured by BPR, which was taken over by Potain in 1985. It had been on site for just over two months and was not lifting a load at the time of the incident.

The collapse occurred as the operator was finishing his shift – the site has a 6pm curfew.

The tower crane fell onto flats adjacent to the site killing operator Jonathan Cloke and Michael Alexa, a member of the public washing his car nearby. Falcon had employed Cloke for the past three years describing him as a “well-liked person” and a “good operator”.

Early information suggests that the vertical tower failed and the upper section, along with the front and rear jibs and operator’s cabin, fell backwards, cartwheeling as it descended.

Although it is understood that the crane did not oversail buildings outside the site, the cartwheeling action caused the jib to hit the flats. It took until early Saturday morning for both bodies to be recovered.

A Health & Safety Executive (HSE) spokeswoman said the crane will be removed to a laboratory to determine the cause of the failure. It will be examining documents relating to the crane and activities on site. The joint investigation with the police is not expected to reach a conclusion for several months.

The tragedy has prompted calls for a wide-ranging look at the risks associated with crane work by one union official.

“There have been three crane collapses with the loss of seven lives in the past six years,” said Jerry Swain, UCATT London regional secretary. “The risks associated with crane work are clear from this latest tragedy. But nobody has been able to pinpoint the cause in previous incidents.”

Swain called on the HSE to look at all incidents involving collapsed cranes and establish whether there is a common cause.

“They should consider whether the risk assessment procedures that are currently in place are adequate for crane work. UCATT will be pressing the HSE for answers,” he said.

[Contract Journal, 4 October 2006, p 3]