25/03/2008

News Item

Crane tumbles in Bundoora

BREWER Fosters has pleaded guilty to two charges following the A 100-TONNE crane that toppled and fell on to a shed at Bundoora could have easily killed someone, safety authorities say.

The crane crash at Bundoora's University Hill development left a 25-year-old Epping man in hospital with a broken leg and cuts to his face.

The crane flattened a temporary shed that appeared to have been used as an office, crushed equipment and crashed through fencing.

It was being used for work on the Brand Junction discount shopping outlet, expected to open this year.

WorkSafe spokesman Michael Birt said the crane had been used to lift airconditioning ducts on to a roof before falling about 1.30pm last Saturday week.

"There was no load attached to it at the time but somehow or other it's become destabilised and tipped over," Mr Birt said.

The accident was under investigation.

"We would consider it fortunate there were no other people hurt or killed," Mr Birt said.

He said about two or three crane falls on Victorian building sites were reported each year.

"When things go wrong with cranes, particularly these larger ones, the potential for serious injury or death is considerable," he said.

"Sometimes they lead to fatalities, sometimes they don't, but the potential is great."

MAB Corporation has been developing the University Hill site, with construction of Brand Junction contracted to St Hilliers Contracting.

source: http://www.whittlesealeader.com.au/article/2008/03/25/31943_wpv_news.html