HSE warns crane manufacturers after 120ft crane crushes workman at Liverpool site
A workman was killed yesterday following the collapse of a 120ft crane on a building site in Liverpool. The crane fell on the site worker as horrified colleagues looked on.
Another man, the driver of the crane, was also seriously injured after he fell from the crane and became lodged between two buildings three storeys in the air.
One witness said: “I was walking past the site when I heard a huge crack. I looked up and saw it start to wobble, then it just started falling down. Builders were running, screaming, trying to get away.”
The incident happened last night on contractor David McLean’s building site for developer Iliad. Around 70 workers, many of them Polish, were on site when the crane toppled. They were working on a luxury flats development called Elysian Fields.
The news comes following two other recent crane collapses in London – one on a Sir Robert McAlpine site in central London and one on a Barratt site in Battersea, south west London.
The Health & Safety Executive is currently visiting crane manufacturers to discuss safety issues. It plans to release its findings to the industry at the end of the financial year in March or April.
