Safety

A national crane inspection programme has been launched in the USA to provide separate certifications for mobile, tower and overhead cranes. The CCO national inspector certification programme was jointly set up by the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) and the Crane Certification Association of America (CCAA).

A crane boom came down alongside an interstate highway on Tuesday night near Dallas airport in Texas. The job involves construction of an overpass for state Highway 161 at I-20.

Cost and time over-runs are every construction manager’s nightmare. There are many factors that can contribute to these, but as a series of case studies show, one of the best ways to avoid them is to specify the right equipment for the job and use it correctly. In fact, as many of the projects featured in this article illustrate, using the right equipment can mean a competitive advantage for contractors, allowing them to finish work ahead of schedule.

A crane inspector certification programme has been developed by the NCCCO in conjunction with the Crane Certification Association of America (CCAA), offering inspectors of tower, mobile and overhead cranes distinct certifications.

A mobile crane went over in the small town of Arrowtown, South Island, New Zealand earlier today as it was lifting a large tree. Lifting trees can be a challenging application at any time, but the three axle All Terrain appears to have been set up on soft ground without adequately sized outrigger mats. The load side outriggers have either retracted, or more likely punched into the ground.

More than 220 sign company personnel have participated in ISA’s industry-leading mobile crane operator safety certification training program in 2011. The training program is designed to help the industry meet certification requirements from OSHA.

Liebherr is to start tests on expanding the use of carbon fibre technology (CFK) in other products. The company is currently using the technolgy on pendant straps fitted to its HS 895 HD duty cycle crawler crane and is an option on its LR 1300 crawler crane.

Eagle West has now achieved a Certificate of Recognition (COR) in Health & Safety in all operations: A Certificate of Recognition Program (COR) is a monetary incentive program for employers who go beyond the Workers Compensation Act and the OH&S Regulations by implementing best practice health and safety management systems.

Two men were injured on Saturday at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, while assembling a crawler crane. The men were installing the crane’s back mast using another crawler crane.

Critical mistakes were made during the disassembly that severely overloaded the hinges. The mistakes included jacking the towers to reduce the load on the skid, which resulted in an increase in the load to the hinge, and failing to lubricate the rail underneath the skid, which caused the project team to decide to jack up the crane.