31.05.2016
Crane overturns on dock
A Rough Terrain crane overturned on the dockside at Port-en-Bessin-Huppain in Normandy, France, on Thursday.
The crane, a PPM, is used to lift small pleasure boats in and out of the water. It has just placed a small boat in the water and still had its boom extended, when a fork lift wanted to pass by. The crane operator pulled up and retraced the crane’s outriggers and the extended boom proved to be enough to cause the crane to overturn sideways onto the dock.
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The fallen crane is recovered
The crane operator jumped clear of the crane as soon as it started to move, while the port manager just managed to jump clear of the falling boom. As a result no one was injured. The crane boom was removed before the crane was lifted back onto its wheels. It is still standing on the dockside waiting for the safety investigators to check it over.
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The boom and crane await an inspection before they are moved
Vertikal Comment
While it would have been advisable for the crane operator to have pulled in his boom before retracting the outriggers, it should normally have remained stable in this configuration. Unless the tyres pressures on one side were low, and/or the oscillating axle was not working properly. Some PPM cranes were equipped with a form of suspension but that tended to be the smallest models, rather than machines of this size. Hopefully the accident results will be published.
Good Morning Mr Editor,
Donald English was a Miner who earnt a living hewing Coal 8 hrs a day in underground Seams so narrow, that he worked most of the time on his Knees or Side. At the end of his shift, he walked back thru the Heading to access Mine Jigger Brae, where suddenly and without Warning the Coal Haulage system started-up entangling Mr English and crushing him between a rake of Coal Hutches and the Colliery Wall. His Crush Injuries were so serious they inhibited his ability to work and thus without Wages, he was unable to feed his family. As such he decided to make a Personal Injury (PI) Claim via the NUM Solicitor and was successful in the Court of first instance, namely The Edinburgh Court of Sessions.
However despite this success, the Employer continued to deny liability and Appealed to the House of Lords (HL) Judicial Appellate Committee in London. At the time the HL was the most Senior Court in the UK ( until replaced by The Supreme Court in October 2009) : However the HL dismissed the Appellants case in favour of the Respondent Donald English perfectly justifiable claim for Damages due to his Personal Injury.
Lord Wright MR said in Judgment that “ The whole course of Authority (that is previous precedent decisions) consistently recognises a Duty (of Care) which rests on the Employer and is personal to the Employer to take Reasonable Care for the Safety of his Workmen. The Obligation is threefold, that is the provision of Competent Staff, Adequate Materials and a Proper System (of Work) with Effective Supervision” . Lord Atkin and three other Judges also delivered speeches supporting Donald English rightful claim to Damages for his personal Injury.
To this very day, the precedent decision in this landmark case reported as Wilsons and Clyde Coal Co Ltd. v. English [1937] 3. All England Law Reports ( see page 628) is known as the Common Law obligation for all UK Employers to uphold ‘Safe Systems of Work’ (SSoW) which means that in the event of a failure that no-one gets Killed or injured. That is the working procedure should always ‘Failsafe’. An excellent example of a SSoW are the Automatic Brakes on Crane Hoist Rope Winch Drums . But is this enough, No, there are hundreds of other factors that highly skilled Crane Operators take into account knowing that Lifting Operations are inherently Dangerous, because we are always attempting to defeat Gravity. (With Gravity having the last word in the event of an unsafe act or ommission) : So after 8 Years of Research, I can confirm yet another Fifteen (15) Crane & AWP Incidents Worldwide in May 2016, causing Six (6) Fatalities. So as someone needs to speak up for the Dead, I will.
Crane Operators and Plant Mechanics already know that English Law has Two Sources, that is Legislation and Common Law ( so called because it applies to all of us in Common). Therefore…...
‘Safe Systems of Work’ is the Common Law obligation in UK - does it still apply to Cranes 80 years later - Yes.
‘Safe Systems of Work’ is the Common Law obligation - must I adopt this Legal Precedent for Lifting Ops - Yes.
‘Safe Systems of Work’ is the Common Law obligation - Is it Cost-Effective to apply Safe Systems of Work - Yes.
This Common Law obligation is widely Mis-Interpreted as meaning that Competence is based upon ‘Experience’ alone, all of which is a great Quality if I have it. But what if I dont and what if I did not understand the difference between a Slewing Ring, a Slewing Motor and a Slewing Pinion. Then how would I get that Crane competence. The answer can be found in Section 5 of Regulation 7 in The Management Regulations 1999 where ‘Competence’ is defined as “Where he or she, has (had) sufficient Training and Experience or Knowledge and (the) other qualities (needed) to enable him/her to properly assist in undertaking the measures referred to in para 1” regarding pro-active management of Crane Safety.
The Legal landscape has now changed for all Crane companies in the UK, with significant six figure penalties now being imposed by the Courts for Un-Safe working procedures and therefore CEO’s now ignore Crane Safety at their peril.
Preston Crown Court should have the last word on this matter, where on Thursday 5th May 2016, the Honourable Judge imposed a Fine of £2.6 Million (£2.6 Million) plus £54766 Costs on Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions Ltd after a Sub-Contractors employee Mr James Sim was killed when the Trench in which he was working on 14th April 2010 collapsed and suffocated him. (RIP James) : All of which occured while James Sim was undertaking a Cable Trench Excavation on the instructions of the Defendant company.
Worker Safety is very important.
Kind Regards
Mike Ponsonby