A hook broke off a tower crane and caused the load to fall 36m during construction work at Hertfordshire Regional College in Turnford . The load damaged a college building and demolished the site boundary fence when it fell next to a frequently used walkway.

Hertford Court ruled the firm breached Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Regulation 5(2) of the Construction Regulations 2007 and Regulation 8(1) of the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulation 1998.

HSE Inspector Norman Macritchie said: “It was a matter of good fortune that no-one was injured in this entirely avoidable incident. Those undertaking lifting operations have absolute duties to plan, supervise and carry them out safely. staff had identified safety-critical faults in the crane yet simple controls needed to prevent use of defective equipment were not implemented.

HSE Inspector Norman Macritchie said: “It was a matter of good fortune that no-one was injured in this entirely avoidable incident. Those undertaking lifting operations have absolute duties to plan, supervise and carry them out safely. Maintenance staff had identified safety-critical faults in the crane yet simple controls needed to prevent use of defective equipment were not implemented.

“Poor communication and teamwork, together with inadequate supervision, all contributed to this incident. This case has important lesions for all those operating lifting equipment and especially tower cranes.”

 Tower Crane Hire & Sales Limited, operations director Martin Harvey told Cranes Today: “In response to this incident we have implemented dynamic and robust safety systems addressing the specific failings of this incident and wider risks across our operations.

“We welcome the comments from the HSE and have continually strived since this incident in cooperation with the executive to learn these critical lessons.

“We ,  eot crane manufacturers  , are satisfied that the circumstances which contributed to this incident in November 2007, no longer exist within our business and that our systems and procedures are currently industry leading.”