Tower of Trouble

Rick Raef is a heavy construction safety consultant for Willis Group Holdings, San Francisco, Calif., a global insurance broker. Raef has been with Willis since 1996, during which time he developed a crisis management program called, "Character Based Crisis Management: A Contractor's Survival Guide." He is currently the editor of WCSN-The Willis Construction Safety Network , an electronic safety bulletin distributed to contractors in the United States and Australia . You can contact Rick Raef at raef_ri@willis.com .

Two boys recently scaled to the top of a tower crane at a jobsite on a university campus. The youngsters had wandered off from a treatment center for the developmentally disabled. Not only did they make it to the operator's station of the idle 115-foot tower crane, but by the time a rescue crew arrived, they had scaled the rooster tail above the jib-the highest point on the crane. This is despite the fact that the job was fenced and the gate was locked.

To learn more about this incident, go to http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2004/7006.html

A quick search on the web turned up a couple of useful tips for securing jobsites and equipment. The University of Louisville , Department of Public Safety, offers a checklist to prevent theft and vandalism on jobsites. According to a report by the department, "A jobsite without guards, fencing, adequate lighting, or controlled exits, makes a very easy target for even the most in-experienced thief." The report makes fencing a top priority because "a fence without strands of barbed wire can be easily scaled by thieves and vandals with minimal risk."

More specific to securing tower cranes were the following guidelines from the University of California-Berkeley, Department of Facilities Services:

• Provide and install wood structure around base of tower crane. Wood base shall be constructed of 5/8-inch thick minimum, fire retardant, treated exterior plywood. Flare top of wood base at a 45 degree angle. Provide a working platform at top of base structure with opening to accommodate the ladder leading to operator's cab. Extend structure from ground level to top of tower. Provide one strand of barbed wire at top of structure and another strand 10 feet above ground.

• Provide solid wood door with full mortise butt hinges (NRP) and 2 padlocks with hasps and staples, one padlock on exterior and one on interior side of door.

• Install audible alarm.

• Provide two locks on the access door to cab, one on exterior of cab and one on interior of cab.

Even when you think you have secured your job site and the equipment on it, this incident begs the question for contractors with tower cranes: Just how secure is your crane from someone who really, really wants to make it to the top?

Note: The link to the article, "Tools Drop From Crane Top," is provided courtesy of The Daily Nexus.

For more information on the checklist offered by The University of Louisville , Department of Public Safety, go to: http://www.louisville.edu/admin/dps/police/jobsite.htm

The guidelines from the University of California-Berkeley , Department of Facilities Services can be found at: http://www.cp.berkeley.edu/CDS_ucb/CDS_Division1/Div_1_50_
SECURITY_FOR_TOWER_CRANE.doc