13.03.2014

Counterfeit CraneSafe stickers spotted

The Crane Industry Council of Australia (CICA) has reported the discovery of counterfeit CraneSafe Green stickers on three cranes in Australia over the past two weeks. All three were spotted in Western Australia and Queensland.

CICA says that its preliminary investigations suggest that the counterfeit cases appear unrelated and that at this stage it simply wants to alert all members, assessors, the wider industry and the authorities of this matter and its concerns. It is also looking at making it more difficult to forge stickers and easier to verify them.

So far the counterfeit Green Stickers have been easy to identify by those in the know. Alan Marshall of CICA said: “If you come across a counterfeit CraneSafe ‘Green Sticker’ it will be wise to assume that the crane is unsafe and not compliant with Work Health and Safety Regulations including plant requirements.

A counterfeit ‘Green Sticker’ can be identified by the following:

- The sticker/inspection details will be falsified and not registered on the CraneSafe database
- The sticker will not be printed on a valid CraneSafe approved sticker
- The stickers spotted so far are poor or flawed copies of a valid CraneSafe ‘Green Sticker’
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A CraneSafe Green sticker

If you have any doubts when checking a Green Sticker on a crane the following may help:

1. Examine the sticker to obtain the key data and look for any irregularities
2. Do not rely upon a visual check of the sticker only
3. Examine the inspection and approval documentation supporting the sticker
4. If you have any concerns, identify the CraneSafe Registration Certificate Number and the Crane Serial Number. Contact the CraneSafe Office and speak to Tracey Watson to check the sticker details against the CraneSafe data base. Call CICA / CraneSafe at (03) 95010078 and press 1 for CraneSafe.
5. Send through pictures and details of any potential counterfeit stickers confidentially or anonymously to CICA.

CICA is also taking action to improve the security and verification of its Green Stickers with the following actions:

• It has launched a campaign to alert and educate members and the industry of this matter and the threat of counterfeit CraneSafe ‘Green Stickers’
• It is writing to all state/territory WorkSafe authorities to request investigation of the specific counterfeit cases
• It has sought legal advice and will exercise its full legal rights of Trade Mark over any misuse and misrepresentation of the CraneSafe name and logo
• It is writing to all parties regarding the breach of Trade Mark and will pursue any parties through the courts
• CICA will also review options to adopt ‘tamper-proof’ and ‘anti-counterfeit’ sticker technology if required
• It is also continuing to review and develop the CraneSafe programme to better serve the industry.

“CICA takes the strong view that any unlawful breach and misrepresentation in the industry that threatens safety and the reputation of CICA members and CraneSafe users is unacceptable," said Marshall. "A few isolated incidents may be regarded as minor by some, especially as the CraneSafe programme involves over 7,000 assessments annually and has over 10,000 cranes on the database. CICA takes the strong view that any unlawful breach and misrepresentation in the industry that threatens safety and the reputation of CICA members and CraneSafe users is unacceptable.”

The voluntary CraneSafe third party inspection and certification programme has been running for around 12 years and now covers around 7,000 crane inspections each year - see: 10 years of CraneSafe.