Informa Markets

Author Bio ▼

Safety and Health Practitioner (SHP) is first for independent health and safety news.
February 24, 2014

Get the SHP newsletter

Daily health and safety news, job alerts and resources

HSE provides information on safe use of tower cranes

 

Following the collapse of three luffing jib cranes in high winds recently, the Health and Safety Executive has made information available to tower crane users on the safe use of cranes.
 
A tower crane jib snapped in Croydon in January after severe storms hit the area. A number of cranes across London also collapsed in October last year when the St Jude storm hit. 
 
HSE has identified that some tower crane users have not been releasing the slew brake and/or placing the jib at the correct out of service radius when leaving cranes out of service and unattended.
 
If luffing jib cranes are left out of service like this, HSE warns there is a possibility the crane may not be able to weathervane freely in high winds, which could result in very high loadings being placed on the crane, which could result in the collapse of the jib or the whole crane.
 
HSE has supplied supplementary guidance to that contained in BS7121 Part 5:2006, Code of practice for safe use of cranes — tower cranes, as to what tower crane users should do.

Related Topics

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments