The jib of a luffing tower crane buckled and dropped on a site in Vancouver, Canada yesterday, thankfully no one was injured in the incident.
The incident occurred earlier yesterday morning during a safety check on a site in Surrey on the south east side of the city, prior to the start of work.
The project, is a mixed use development by Basa properties with residential towers and office space, the main contractor is Axiom Builders, a statement issued by its director of health and safety, Dennis Brode said: “There were no injuries in the incident and WorkSafe is now on-site with a team of inspectors to thoroughly investigate the cause of this incident, and our team will work with them to ensure a comprehensive assessment.”
WorkSafeBC has issued a stop work order on the crane and in the area around the crane and is sending its investigation and engineering team to the site. The crane, a Jaso, is supplied by the manufacturer’s Canadian distributor Allied Crane.
This is apparently the second tower crane incident in the greater Vancouver area this week, prompting the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 to issue a statement. Its spokesman Josh Towsley said: “These incidents are very rare, so to have two in four days is shocking. The fact there are no fatalities is nothing short of luck.”
“There are around 350 cranes operating across the province at any one time, we are as concerned about the equipment, as the cranes are inspected before use. The problem is more a lack of mandatory training for crane operators and for the people who erect, climb and disassemble the tower cranes.”
Allied Crane has not provided the following statement: “All of our cranes are subject to inspection and testing before being put into service to ensure that they are safe. We are participating fully in WorkSafeBC’s investigation into the cause of the incident, as well as carrying out our own internal investigation. We are committed to ensuring that incidents like this do not happen.”
Vertikal Comment
This not the first examples of a luffer's jib buckling in this manner, it is becoming a sight that it is more familiar than anyone would like, at the moment it would seem to have reached the point where, if the cause of such incidents should be communicated openly by the manufactuers in the way that airframe incidents are published?
Update
A statement from Jaso and Allied Crane said: “Following our internal investigation, based on evidences such as videos, photographs and information received from Allied, our dealer in the area, the accident was caused by a misuse of the crane.”
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