06.01.2010

Investigation into crane tip inconclusive

The investigation into a mobile crane accident in Dunedin, New Zealand, last June has made no progress after more than six months.

The boom and job of a 70 tonne Tadano GT700 truck crane owned by Dunedin Crane Hire, came crashing down into the street narrowly missing a bus full of young children.
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The crane was fully rigged

A spokesman for the Department of Labour said earlier this week that no cause had been found, and that the six month period in which a prosecution could take place had now passed. He added that the investigation was continuing, but no cause had been found yet. "This is a complex piece of machinery and we are trying to get to the bottom of it. There is no deadline for the investigation to end, it will continue for as long as it needs to".

We understand that the crane has not been put back into service since the accident and that it is now awaiting a new boom. Click here to see original report

Vertikal Comment

It looks as though the local Department of Labour is as slow as its investigations as the UK’s Health & Safety Executive can be. Fact is if they have not found anything after six months it is unlikely that anything will be discovered six months later.

The six month ruling is though a very sensible rule, crane or equipment accidents should not take more than a few weeks as a rule, unless highly detailed metallurgical testing is required and even then six months should be more than adequate.

At the time of the accident several readers wrote in to say that it looked as though a counterweight slab was missing.