Rigging Safety

Ho Chi Minh City Construction Department has just done with draft instructions on the safe use of tower cranes in construction sites within the city. The horizontal jibs of tower cranes in a construction site rise above a street threaten lives of the passers-by (Photo: Minh Tri)

A tragic end for a Houston man killed in a construction accident in Richmond Tuesday afternoon. A company was building a “water detention” area near Mission Bend, according to a Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.

A crawler crane operator was slightly injured when his crane tipped over in Montreal yesterday. The incident occurred on on the CHUM superhospital construction St-Denis Street between Viger and De la Gauchetiere.

We have been alerted to a tragic crane accident on a wind farm in South America, almost certainly in Brazil. The accident, which we have been told occurred last wednesday, involves a 1,200 tonne Liebherr LTM11200-9.1. which was lifting a full blade and rotor assembly into place when – we are told – a strong gust took the load out to the side, creating a massive side load on the crane’s boom.

New York City’s department of buildings has released a new report by consulting engineers Ove Arup on the tower crane collapse last March that killed seven people. The new report lays the blame squarely on improper use of slings, and also addresses the question of whether the friction base used at the foot of the crane may have contributed to the accident.

The tower crane erector/rigging contractor who was responsible for the crane that collapsed and killed seven people in Manhattan, had his license revoked today by New York’s Department of Buildings.

Predictive Solutions, Pittsburgh, Pa., announced that its customer, Turner Construction Co., was recognized by the Associated General Contractors of America as one of the safest construction companies in the United States with a 2011 Construction Safety and Excellence Award (CSEA).

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) will introduce its new crane safety rules and initiatives on September first. They will include regulations that will stipulate the requirement for a comprehensive lifting plan to be developed and implemented before a lifting operation can be carried out, with an appointed person responsible.

A 60 tonne mobile crane overturned while lifting a large sign at a station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday.

While the incident closed the station for several hours while the crane was recovered and damage repaired, no one was injured.

A lattice crane boom came down across two or three parked cars in Fayetteville, North Carolina yesterday. The 110 ton crawler crane, owned by Buckner Heavylift Cranes of Graham, North Carolina, was rented to LeChase Construction Services and was working on the town’s multi storey car park, lifting steel beams, when the accident occurred.