WorkCover NSW has fast-tracked a safety inspection program of tower cranes across the state after one caught fire and collapsed at a Sydney construction site late last year.
The inspections, which were set to begin at the end of 2013, have since been brought forward, WorkCover NSW said in a statement on Thursday. The move comes after a crane at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) site at Broadway caught fire on November 27 and caused cables to give way, which sent the boom crashing down onto the site.
While no one was seriously injured in the incident, the crane crew was credited with saving the lives of building workers and the public. In response, WorkCover NSW said the tower crane verification inspection program will start with the type involved in the Sydney collapse. The inspections will review existing risk controls such as crane pre-assembly and pre-use inspection systems. It will also physically inspect the cranes.
‘The Sydney CBD crane collapse had never happened before and at the time of the incident was considered extremely unlikely,’ WorkCover General Manager John Watson said in a statement. ‘WorkCover’s thorough investigation into the causes, systems of work, maintenance of equipment and adequacy of control measures is continuing.’
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