Date of article: 28/05/2007
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Ten per cent of Falcoln Crane Hire's 195-strong fleet was in a dangerous condition when two of the firm's cranes collapsed claiming three lives.
19 Falcon cranes had serious faults at the time of the fatal accidents.
Falcon cranes collapsed in Battersea last September and in Liverpool in Januray.
Falcon's cranes had to be checked before they could restart work. Results of the tests were not made public by the HSE but have now been revealed following an investigation.
A HSE spokeswoman said: "Reports from initial inspections of the Falcon cranes showed that around 10 per cent were found to have Category A faults ."
The HSE defines a Category A fault as one "that is serious enough that the crane cannot go back into service until it is fixed."
A team of 18 independent testers examined the Falcon fleet and once the category A defects were rectified they were allowed back in use.
The HSE said that a "vast majority" of Falcon's fleet was back in service after being cleared by the safety checks within a two-week target the firm set itself when the prohibition notice was issued on January 17. But the HSE could not clarify how long it took to get the faulty 10 per cent back into action. A spokeswoman said: "It would have depended on what the actual fault was and what was required to rectify it. But I think it took longer than two weeks."
A Falcon spokesman disputed the HSE's figures, adding: "Around 195 cranes were inspected independently and less than 5 per cent had Category A defects. Some of these included things like frayed rope that had not been picked up by the weekly drivers' inspection. All defects were rectified in 24-hours."
Falcon was ordered to review its maintenance regime in an improvement notice in March. The firm has until June to meet the criteria set by the HSE.
Labour MP for Battersea Martin Linton said: "It is alarming that 10 per cent of the crane were found to have these serious faults. It makes you wonder whether a wider inspection of cranes should be carried out.
"It could be a problem with one contractor but it could also be a bigger problem. We don't know if this type of fault was the cause of the incident in Battersea - we won't know until the inquiry is complete.
"For the relations of the victims it is some comfort to know other accidents have been prevented."
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