A number of you have sent us hook camera video footage over the past week or so that showed a collapsing load. We have now managed to track down when and where the incident happened. It occurred a few weeks ago in the UK at the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station site in Somerset, South West England.
The incident, in early November, occurred while a tower crane was lifting a couple of assembled formwork shuttering panels. It seems that the compression tension applied by the chain set proved too much for the connections on the lower panel, causing it to break apart, allowing the top panel to fall onto the scaffolding below.
A spokesperson for Hinkley Point C said: “In early November, during lifting works, a panel fell onto scaffolding within an exclusion zone established for the lift. No one was hurt. Safety is our highest priority at Hinkley Point C. Lifting was paused so we could ensure safe procedures were in place.”
We have also heard that the main contractor, Bylor - a joint venture between Bouygues and Laing O’Rourke - suspended similar lifts following the incident while it carried out an investigation into the cause.
The video below shows how helpful hook cameras can be in recording such occurrences:
Fenster
@Honest Lifting, have you seen the activity on LinkedIn when 'Big Carl' carries out a lift ? Every man and their dog in a 5 mile radius puts pictures/ video of it, even EDF themselves so I don't believe security is a major element here.
This clip and story highlights a failure during a lifting operation, anyone watching it that lifts formwork will be a bit more aware of the consequences of not fully checking load security.
vertikal editor
A comment has been issued, and the video is all over social media. In this case, we are one of the last to publish it due to our checking and verification process.
What we are not 100% sure of is whether the video was shared voluntarily - this is only a certain level of comment given by most contractors
Eric_L
Honest lifting, the site, and the contractor have given statements. What more would you expect.
Also, to be clear, it's a future nuclear facility, and even that isn't in the coming weeks.
Fenster
@Honest Lifting, have you seen the activity on LinkedIn when 'Big Carl' carries out a lift ? Every man and their dog in a 5 mile radius puts pictures/ video of it, even EDF themselves so I don't believe security is a major element here.
This clip and story highlights a failure during a lifting operation, anyone watching it that lifts formwork will be a bit more aware of the consequences of not fully checking load security.
vertikal editor
A comment has been issued, and the video is all over social media. In this case, we are one of the last to publish it due to our checking and verification process.
What we are not 100% sure of is whether the video was shared voluntarily - this is only a certain level of comment given by most contractors
Honest Lifting
I wonder if anyone from vertikal has checked if its ok to post leaked footage from a secure nuclear facility on a public forum?