Volume 11 Issue 3
MAY/JUNE 2020 $5.00
COVID-19 For up-to-date coverage of the pandemic’s impact on the heavy lifting industry, visit craneandhoistcanada.com
WorkSafeBC introduces new crane safety initiatives for 2020
New 2020 crane safety initiatives for British Columbia B Y M AT T J O N E S
here are an estimated 300 tower cranes operating in British Columbia, which is a sign of progress and expansion, but also a measure of the importance of crane safety and ensuring that all possible measures are being taken. WorkSafeBC is introducing new crane safety initiatives this year, to focus on the differences between qualification and certification, operator competency for operation and maintenance, and ensuring that inspectors now check for preventative maintenance. Al Johnson, vice-president prevention services at WorkSafeBC says that the overriding effort; however, is about ensuring all parties understand their roles and responsibilities regarding safety. “It’s not that there’s absence of that interaction and absence of taking those responsibilities,” says Johnson. “It’s confirmation or affirmation that those parties are working together to take that shared responsibility. So when a tower crane, or whatever the case is, is being assembled or disassembled, that those who are involved in the engineering controls and engineering inspections are working collaboratively with the right people. It’s not a standalone effort.” Johnson says that the focus on assembly and disassembly is due to WorkSafeBC’s findings that the majority of crane collapses and other incidents have occurred during those phases. Johnson says British Columbia is very fortunate that few such incidents occur in the province; however, when such an incident does occur, it can be catastrophic in nature. “So we learn from those catastrophes, those horrific incidents that occur elsewhere, and we want to do everything we can to prevent them from happening here,” says Johnson. “When cranes, tower cranes in particular, are assembled and disassembled in urban areas, in closer proximity to all sorts of things, that’s when the risk of an event can occur.” Johnson says he and the provincial crane inspection team focused not just on the assembly and disassembly of the cranes, but also on issues related to that process. They’ve co-ordinated with municipalities, for example, to review best practices for permitting and traffic restrictions during the erection and disassembly of cranes.
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Cranes continue to evolve with technology – safety and inspection standards also must evolve says Al Johnson of WorkSafeBC. Credit: WorkSafeBC