Prohibition Notice served on crane hire company

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) served a Prohibition Notice on Falcon Crane Hire Ltd of Shipdam, Norfolk which required them, with immediate effect, to take out of service all tower cranes in their fleet which had not been subject to a thorough examination by an independent competent person.

The action was taken following the collapse of two of the company's tower cranes in less than four  months, at sites in London and Liverpool. As investigations into both incidents were on-going, and the the exact causes of either failure had not yet been established, the HSE decided to adopt a precautionary approach and require the company to demonstrate which cranes had been thoroughly examined by competent persons employed by them, were safe to continue in operation. The HSE have stated that Falcon Crane Hire Ltd has co-operated fully and have agreed the steps they will take to comply with the notice. Any lessons learnt from the investigations will be shared with the industry as soon as possible.

The Notice will affect up to 180 tower cranes which are erected currently on construction sites  throughout Great Britain. Cranes, which have already been examined by an independent competent person are not affected by the Notice and can continue in service.