Just over two years since a serious crane collapse cost the life of Zbigniew Swirzynski a Polish construction worker and father of two, another major incident has occurred today when a 200ft Crane collapsed on top of a housing apartment block in the Park Road area of Liverpool.
The incident occurred at a Bowmer and Kirkland site in Tabley Street, behind Park Lane, on the outskirts of the city centre around mid-day. With the collapse of the 100 tonne crane, the driver was thrown from his cab on impact. He is reported to be in a serious condition in hospital.
The crane's counterweight buried itself through the roof of the apartment block into the main stairwell of the building causing water mains bursts, exit doors to be crushed and blocking the main exit from the building; trapping a number of residents inside.
As a result of the damage caused fears for the stability of the building as a whole have been raised according to media reports.
Injuries to tenants were limited by the fact that many were out shopping or at work.
This incident comes within a week of the latest report from a business pressure group claiming health & safety is red tape and business cannot afford to spend an average of 15 minutes per month on health and safety regulation.
No doubt yet again this incident may well be another example of health & safety being ignored.