Crane disasters link unlikely – port chiefs (From Daily Echo)
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Southampton's crane disasters unlikely to be linked say port chiefs
10:51am Thursday 16th July 2009 in News
PORT bosses in Southampton have said the collapse of a crane that critically injured a worker is unlikely to be linked to a previous similar accident.
Owners of the container port, DP World, said early indications showed the cause of Monday’s accident, in which crane driver Jay Squibb was left with multiple life-threatening injuries, is not the same as the one which caused another crane to collapse in January 2008.
Managing director Campbell Mason said: “Our thoughts remain first and foremost with our injured crane driver who underwent surgery late Tuesday afternoon and is in a serious but stable condition.
“Although it is premature to identify why the accident happened, given the position of the crane at the time of the boom collapse, initial indications are that it is unlikely that this incident had a similar cause to the Crane 8 boom collapse in January 2008.”
He confirmed that operation of the three remaining Morris cranes, of the same design as the one Mr Squibb was operating when it collapsed, had been suspended .
“Safety is paramount for DP World Southampton and we have therefore suspended the operation of the three remaining Morris cranes of the same design until thorough inspections and analysis can satisfy concerns over these cranes.
“We are continuing an active dialogue with the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) regarding the accident investigation and the status of our other Morrisbuilt cranes,” Mr Mason added.
An investigation by the HSE into what caused the accident in 2008 is still ongoing, meaning the authority currently has two investigations active at the port.
The police inquiry into Monday’s accident has now concluded and been handed over to the HSE.
Archive CCTV footage of a large crane falling on to the deck of a ship at Southampton Container Terminal in January 2008.
As previously reported by the Daily Echo, the accident which saw Mr Squibb, a father-of-two, plunge 100ft on to a container ship in the cab of the crane he was driving left him with two broken legs, a broken pelvis, crushed ribs and a punctured lung.
A spokesman at Southampton General Hospital said Mr Squibb, 33, from Woolston, was last night in a “critical but stable” condition after surgery.
Shipside operations resumed at the terminal on Tuesday night with six quay gantry cranes and a mobile harbour crane operational.
Comments(13)
CompassPressureGroup
says...
11:48am Thu 16 Jul 09
Crane 6 was the same type of crane (Morris), was it not?
Most questions from CompassPressureGroup
's previous thread posts remain.
Neither investigation has completed, so it is wrong to speculate as to the cause of either, and so it is illogical to say that any link is
unlikely. Unless DP World and the HSE are hiding something?
This seems to be a public relations attempt to break any perceived link between the two incidents, but a link may exist.
Breaking this perceived link would then enable operations to resume sooner rather than later, along the lines of "those were different reasons
so we'll carry on using the Morris cranes" - and await another disaster.
Is safety as "paramount" for DP World as it was for Railtrack? If that is the case, the results will be similar if investigations either take
too long or safeguards are inadequate.
southy
says...
12:02pm Thu 16 Jul 09
veracity
says...
12:29pm Thu 16 Jul 09
southy wrote:give Mr Mason a bell (his no is in the book)
if port bosses are so sure theres not link, then let fully qualified riggers into the investigation, in sted off pushing them and keeping them out of the link.
Feel sure he and his team would love to make use of your knowledge and expertise
saint tom
says...
1:08pm Thu 16 Jul 09
the first crane collapse is still being investigated 18 months after and still not complete, and they can come out with this load of blarney.
fact is d.p world YOU have had 2 major incidents in less than 2 years and they ARE related, you were lucky last time driver was on changeover and crane was booming down BUT the fact is both cranes lost booms.
if only 1 lost boom and other had leg buckle then yes maybe.
you dont have to be a uni graduate to work out that somewhere on this model is a flaw.
they should be dismantled and sold as scrap END OF!!!!
southy
says...
1:36pm Thu 16 Jul 09
veracity wrote:if mr mason was interested he would off phoned me up or some one off the same trade level a long time ago.
southy wrote:give Mr Mason a bell (his no is in the book)
if port bosses are so sure theres not link, then let fully qualified riggers into the investigation, in sted off pushing them and keeping them out of the link.
Feel sure he and his team would love to make use of your knowledge and expertise
Nearly an OAP
says...
3:22pm Thu 16 Jul 09
wakeywhite
says...
5:03pm Thu 16 Jul 09
veracity
says...
8:14pm Thu 16 Jul 09
southy wrote:understand that Mr Mason has been dilygently searching thro the phone book for a Mr Southy of Redbridge, has tried 118 118 and even looked in Yellow pages undder 'Riggers' but no success. u/stand he also tried the Redbridge \home for the bewildered but no joy there either
veracity wrote:if mr mason was interested he would off phoned me up or some one off the same trade level a long time ago.
southy wrote:give Mr Mason a bell (his no is in the book)
if port bosses are so sure theres not link, then let fully qualified riggers into the investigation, in sted off pushing them and keeping them out of the link.
Feel sure he and his team would love to make use of your knowledge and expertise
Ben Doone
says...
8:51pm Thu 16 Jul 09
Nearly an OAP wrote:You may be right in your comments about the past when Port Safety was covered by the Transport Act. Things have tightened up greatly in recent years and the HSE are very unforgiving if there are any signs of negligence or rule breaking but they have to fully establish the facts before reporting back, and this can take time and I believe it is wrong for both sides to jump to conclusions at this stage. The HSE were right to stop operation of the similar Davey Morris cranes but allow the newer cranes to operate. This is no different to the airline industry where all planes of a particular make/model will be examined/grounded after a crash but the remaining aircraft will be allowed to continue to fly.
During the time I worked in the docks -- not just the container berths I remember a number of accidents occurring. Some of these unfortunately were fatal and invariably there was a whitewash regarding the cause of the accidents. I fear this will happen in this instance as millions of pounds worth of trade would be lost if cargo handling stopped until the cause was known or even publicised. Dock work has always been dangerous and is more so now because of the massive machinery that is used. In the last century government and employers knew the dangers of handling loose asbestos but decided not to tell workers or issue safety instructions or protective clothing and many thousands of shipyard and dock workers died of this disease, usually after a period of 30 years. I hope that in the present we might have moved on but obviously not yet.
Staistically there are less deaths in ports now than in the past due to better safety procedures and more mechanisation and, to be fair, less manpower.
You may be right about asbestos but it is worth pointing out that the European Union didn't ban the handling of raw asbestos until the mid 1980's and it was still used as Artexing material in homes until then, so much of the stuff remains within our housing stock!!
I believe the handling of asbestos in Soton Port finished with the Union Castle ships in 1977 well before the ban came into being.
I doubt therefore that employers fully
understood the real dangers of asbestos but the fact that the Union Castle Line (and others) are still paying out damages for asbestos related deaths may signify that the courts have a different view.
Good news on the young cranedriver and may he make a full & speedy recovery
CompassPressureGroup
says...
3:49pm Fri 17 Jul 09
A couple of questions please:
"The HSE were right to stop operation of the similar Davey Morris cranes but allow the newer cranes to operate." Could you please post whether you know this as a fact?
If so, if the cause of the original incident is still not known for sure, then why would newer cranes, even of the same type, be allowed to continue operating? Isn't this a risk?
As for asbestos I have heard much anecdotal evidence of workers continuing to handle asbestos when there was suspicion over it - being told by management that they were effectively whingers if they complained. Appalling and typical of many company management attitudes to H & S - despite all the laws.
The HSE inspectorate is seriously under-resourced, so staff's H & S is at the whim of many managements don't take H & S seriously enough. I am not saying all management have this attitude, just that it is common.
Ben Doone
says...
4:55pm Fri 17 Jul 09
In my business we have to try to keep up date on shipping issues and, as someone with strong Hampshire connections, I try to maintain an interest in local issues particularly concerning transport & shipping matters.This is the info given to me from a trusted source.
As far as I am aware the newer Liebherr (supplied from Ireland?)cranes are of a completely different construction than the Davey Morris (from Peterboro?)type involved in the two accidents and it would seem appropriate to continue working these newer cranes which do not have question marks against them.
Re the HSE again, on good authority, I understand that they have taken this incident extremely seriously and have sent all available resources to investigate. I am sure this is for the right reason but they would obviously be concerned about leaving themselves open to criticism for not resolving their enquiries from the first incident after many months of investigation.
Re asbestos, I agree there may well be an element of truth in the anecdotal info given to you. I have no personal experience of handling asbestos.All I was trying to point out was the time lag between the end of handling asbestos in Soton Port and the impletation of the formal ban on this activity throughout the EU.
Also despite your reservation, H&S is far more of a priority nowadays than in 10 or 20 yrs ago, and rightly so.
I leave myself open to criticism from some quarters in stating that there has to be a sensible balance between H&S and commercial activity. If H&S was taken to the nth degree, nothing would happen and you can see how fairly inocuous activity, such as playing conkers, can fall foul of certain H&S interpretation.
Apart from the very real threat of imprisonment if a Manager (or any other employee) is proved to be deliberatly negligent there is also a very strong commercial reason for companies to ensure they have suitable H&S practices in place, and that is insurance.
Every company will get an insurance audit and if H&S practices are not up to standard then the cost of cover will rise accordingly and commercial insurance ain't cheap.
Good to communicate with you and hope there is soon a resolution to this matter. No one likes to see people injured or at risk in the workplace
Kevers
says...
10:25pm Fri 17 Jul 09
DONT-KNOCK-THE-ROCK says...
10:59am Thu 16 Jul 09
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