Crane collapses onto Primark store

A crane toppled and landed on a former Primark store in Reading town centre at the weekend. It has since been stabilised.

Shops and 60 homes were evacuated after the 60m (197ft) jib landed on the vacant clothing shop in West Street on Saturday afternoon.

No-one was injured but the council provided accommodation for 49 people.

Berkshire Fire Service stabilised the crane and it is upright again. BW Workplace Experts, which operates the crane, declined to comment.

Experts from NMT Crane Hire are to assess the crane’s jib, which is believed to be jammed, and decide whether the crane can be lowered.

The building, which is still owned by Primark, previously housed one of its stores. Upstairs offices were in the process of being refurbished by BW Workplace Experts.

Major incident

HSE is assisting the fire service and Thames Valley Police with their inquiries into the “major incident.”

Superintendent Robert France of the Thames Valley Police said on Sunday: “The crane has now been stabilised and the fire service has left the scene, however Thames Valley Police and Reading Borough Council remain at the scene.

“Although the crane has been stabilised the jib of the crane is damaged, therefore expert engineers from the Netherlands are travelling to the UK today to assess the damage. It is possible that it may take a number of days to repair the jib and remove the crane from the scene.”

Approaches to managing the risks associated Musculoskeletal disorders

In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

Matt, an ergonomics and human factors expert, shares his thoughts on why MSDs are important, the various prevalent rates across the UK, what you can do within your own organisation and the Risk Management process surrounding MSD’s.

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