Another crane collapse, another set of grim headlines. Two people have been confirmed dead after the crane crash in New York, a tragedy that has striking similarities with the Battersea collapse in September 2006.
Both disasters centre on a poorly carried out repair as a shortage of qualified crane assemblers struggled to keep up with demand, resulting in catastrophy.
But the response in New York has been markedly different. After an earlier collapse in March, the city's building commissioner lost her job, crane regulations were tightened and inspections increased. Following this latest incident work has been halted on five sites and a police investigation has been launched.
In contrast, it took a second crane collapse - in Liverpool - before UK authorities served a prohibition on the offending cranes. And more than a year and a half since Battersea, the police still haven't decided whether or not to pursue criminal charges. The case file of the incident is gathering dust, while officers await the Health and Safety Executive's (HSE) report.
Nobody wants the UK to move towards a culture of blame and litigation, but when tragedies occur, the following investigations cannot simply be lip service. If we are to learn anything from such incidents then the HSE should take heed of the approach in New York and in future take decisive action to rectify procedural mistakes and hold those responsible to account.
James Stagg, deputy/commissioning editor
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