02.04.2025

Tell your story

In a recent issue of Cranes & Access, in a mastclimber feature I asked the question ‘Are we learning anything from failures?’

This followed seven deaths from just two incidents and highlighted how different authorities dealt with such events. All countries and investigative bodies - apart, perhaps, from the aviation sector - are not the same and some - the UK for example - can take years to ‘investigate’ and divulge relevant information that would help make our industry safer.

However, an increasing number of people are calling for change. In November, Ben Hirst, the founder of Horizon Access in the UK, gave a talk at the IPAF Elevation event which he entitled ‘Tell Your Story’ about a ‘near miss’ incident that occurred in his yard, in the hope that by sharing, others might learn and prevent a similar or more serious event. However, not all companies are willing to talk about incidents and near misses, having a misguided fear of being judged negatively. Anyone who has worked on a construction site has a tale to tell of a near miss, an injury or, heaven forbid, an actual fatality. And yet has anything significant been done to stop them reoccurring? Were they reported, and if so, were procedures changed? Probably not, as there is a tendency to hide and cover up, even among those companies that bask in the glory of safety awards received at glittering awards events.

Ben Hirst’s candid retelling of the incident - which involved six people loading push around lifts onto a Beavertail truck - is not dissimilar to loading/ unloading incidents that have occurred in other yards numerous times before and since, sometimes fatally. But if more people were made aware, it might just help reduce the likelihood of it happening in the future.

Another such ‘near miss’ occurred in 2016 with crane company Forsyth of Denny when an All Terrain crane overturned rearwards a second or two after one of the team had walked beneath the counterweight. Owner Cathal NcNally shared the full details including CCTV footage - something he found easier because of an incident a few years earlier in which a larger cane overturned whilst travelling on site. Back then McNally was reluctant to provide details but was persuaded. However telling his story that time was met with such positive comments and respect from customers and potential customers that he did not hesitate to reveal the facts when the more recent incident occurred.

A great many of the daily tasks carried out in our sector carry a risk that could result in injury or death. The more openly we highlight and discuss them when they occur, the safer the industry will be. Too many companies still react by covering up and pretending it didn’t happen, even though very little can be hidden these days in the world of camera phones and social media. And if you ‘clam up and deny’, you simply allow the social media trolls to tell an often highly distorted story, rather than you sharing the actual facts with others, so that they might learn!

Go on…Tell your story.


Mark Darwin
Editor