Two
construction firms have been sentenced after a crane collapsed onto a city
centre apartment block in Liverpool, resulting in the crane driver being
paralysed from the waist down. The 79-metre-high tower crane was being
used as part of a multi-million pound project to build a new eight-storey hotel
and seven apartment blocks at Kings Dock Mill on Tabley Street when it
overturned on 6 July 2009. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
prosecuted the site's principal contractor, Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd, and
structural engineering company Bingham Davis Ltd following an investigation
into the incident.
Liverpool
Crown Court heard the crane fell onto a partially constructed apartment block,
across a road and came to rest on the Chandlers Wharf apartments. Eight
counterweights on the crane, weighing a total of 56 tonnes, broke free and
crashed through the roof and six floors of the building. Crane driver
Iain Gillham, 55, from Woolton, fell from his cab onto the roof of the
apartments and through the hole created by the counterweights. He
suffered multiple injuries including a brain haemorrhage, fractured skull,
broken right shoulder, broken ribs, crush injuries to his left side, and major
spinal injuries which resulted in his legs being paralysed.
No
one inside the building was injured but residents had to be evacuated from the
64 apartments, and some were rescued from their balconies. The damage to the
building was extensive and residents were unable to return to their homes for
nearly two years while major reconstruction work took place.
The
HSE investigation into the incident found that the crane's foundation could not
cope with the forces generated by the crane. During the construction of
the foundation, both Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd and Bingham Davis Ltd agreed to
cut away essential steel reinforcement bars from the four concrete foundation
piles, so that the crane's feet could sit on top on them. These were replaced
with up to 5 steel rods in each pile. This action reduced the forces the
foundation could withstand.
Summing
up in court, Judge Gilmour said he was satisfied that it was the removal of the
reinforcing steel and the inadequate replacement of the steel rods that led to
the foundation being overloaded and the crane collapsing. Both companies
were found guilty of breaches of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974
following a trial at Liverpool Crown Court by failing to ensure the safety of
workers or residents. Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd, of Church Street in Heage,
Derbyshire, was fined £280,000. A decision on prosecution costs will be made
separately. Bingham Davis Ltd, formerly of Temple Street in Liverpool,
has ceased trading since the crane collapse after going into voluntary
liquidation. The company was fined a nominal £1,000.
Speaking
after the hearing, the investigating inspector at HSE, Warren Pennington, said:
"Serious failings on the parts of both Bowmer and Kirkland Ltd and Bingham
Davis Ltd were uncovered by the Health and Safety Executive during an extensive
and complex investigation into the crane collapse. Whilst it is bad
enough that Iain Gillham will be unable to walk for the rest of his life as a
result of the failings of both parties, it is no exaggeration to say it was
only by pure chance that this catastrophic event did not result in multiple
fatalities and significantly more damage to property. The circumstances
leading to the collapse were a mess. Bingham Davis employees had no previous
experience of designing the type of crane foundation used at Kings Dock Mill.
Likewise, Bowmer & Kirkland's employees at Kings Dock Mill had no
experience of building one. Both parties made disastrous errors that were
entirely preventable. The original error was made by Bingham Davis Ltd,
which failed to spot a basic mistake in its calculations for the loadings
imposed by the crane. This created a material risk which had the potential to have
led to a crane foundation being constructed that was not strong enough to hold
the crane up. During construction of the foundation, Bingham Davis
advised Bowmer and Kirkland to cut away essential steel reinforcing bars in the
foundation piles and replace such with steel rods. The removal of such
reinforcing steel, resulted in the foundation being too weak to support the
crane. The foundation was further weakened when Bowmer and Kirkland failed to
ensure the adequate insertion of the replacing steel rods. Neither
Company did enough to check what the result would be of cutting away this
essential steel reinforcement and replacing such with steel rods."
Warren
added: "HSE hopes this case sends a clear message to the
construction industry in relation to tower cranes foundations. Designers of
such should be familiar with industry accepted guidance and follow it, unless
they have extremely well thought-out reasons for not doing so. The role of the
Principal Contractor is also crucial in managing the design process. Both
Principal Contractors and Designers should ensure that robust systems for
design checking are actioned at all times. We will continue to engage
with the industry to ensure that lessons are learned."
Over the past decade, nine people have
been killed and there have been 25 serious injuries as a result of incidents
involving tower cranes. Information on crane safety is available at www.hse.gov.uk/construction
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