A WorkSafe B.C. report on a crane crash in Sechelt in early July has brought to light a slew of safety orders for the general contractor working on the Midtown development on Inlet Avenue.
However, the owner of Half-moon Bay-based Knighco Industry, that operated the 35-ton mobile truck crane on the site, is taking issue with some of the facts outlined in the report by WorkSafe investigator Mark Benoit.
Owner Tracey Knight was asked to comply with 10 separate orders from the provincial workplace safety authority, after his 1975 Grove TMS 300 crane came crashing down into the new condominium development and Splash 'n' Shine car wash located just to the north. Seven of the orders relate to crane training and work that needed to be done on the machine. "At this point, our insurance company is saying the crane is probably not worth fixing," said Knight of the equipment, which he values at $75,000. Knighco has stayed on the job as the general contractor since the crash.
None of the seven workers on site at the time was injured when the crane fell. Knighco had a professional engineer certify the building as safe for continued construction and are taking action on the remaining orders: to investigate the accident themselves and to ensure workers are properly trained in the future. A separate sub-contractor took over craning on site after July 4, and developer Chris Moore of Sunshine Coast Property Development Corpora-tion (SCPDC) said he "will be handing out keys to the new owners in the fall of 2008."
The report states the crane was lifting into place a module comprising one mostly-finished bachelor suite when it came down. Benoit estimated the weight of the load was 5,900kg (13,000 pounds) and estimated the boom angle was 59 degrees when the crane came down. At that angle, the report notes the maximum allowable load is 3,240kg (7,130 pounds).
However, Knight said the investigator's weight estimate was based on an exterior module, which weighs more than the interior module he said was being lifted at the time. The weight being lifted was "well under 10,000 pounds," he said, adding the boom angle was between 65 and 70 degrees at the time of the crash. At that angle, the weight lifted was 10 to 15 per cent less than the maximum weight allowable on the crane's lift chart, he said.
"My opinion is Mother Nature played a role," he said. "That's part of it, and unless we can rewind time, we'll never know."
Benoit's report makes no mention of wind playing a factor, but indicates the operator of the crane was an on-site carpenter who "was asked to operate the crane after watching the owner lift a few lifts." The report notes the man was not signed up for crane operator's certification and had never operated a crane previously. The neophyte operator "was unaware that the load weight must consider other factors such as the block of the crane, the spreader bar and line allowance," Benoit wrote. Since July 2007, a mobile crane, tower crane or boom truck can be operated only by a person with a valid certificate issued by a WCB-approved person.
Knight agrees operator Dave Hume was not certified but added Hume had been operating the crane for most of the job and was by that point experienced. At the time of the crash, he said Hume had already lifted 15 units into place without incident.
Moore said insurance adjusters told him damage to both buildings will come in under $100,000, and SCPDC's construction insurance will cover both buildings.
"We are taking this seriously and know that we experienced what is called in the industry as a 'misadventure' on site," he said. "The damage to the buildings and lost productivity from both sites is regrettable but could have been much worse."
WorkSafe B.C. would not comment on whether any fines will be levied against Knighco. If fines are levied, Knight said he will "definitely have further discussions" with WorkSafe B.C.
