10-STOREY CRANE FALL
THE Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union has accused a crane operator of knowingly working with faulty equipment after a weight block plunged 10 storeys yesterday, narrowly missing an elderly woman.
AN elderly woman has escaped sure death after a crane weight block and hook fell 10 storeys on a Gold Coast construction site and crashed within metres of her.
A crane cable snapped at 11am yesterday. The shaken woman was taken to a nearby coffee shop by a construction worker.
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMMEU) accused the crane operator of using faulty equipment.
The company, Falcon Cranes, did not return Bulletin questions.
Falcon Cranes was subcontracted to work at The Otto building site on Bondi Ave, Mermaid Beach. The site is owned by Morris Property Group.
It is alleged the hoist-up limit on the crane was “not set” on the operator checklist on both Tuesday and yesterday.
Luke Gibson, from the CFMMEU, claimed the contractor knew the crane was faulty.
“The crane’s rope strap broke due to double blocking. The load limiter hadn’t been working,” Mr Gibson said.
“They (Falcon Cranes) knew it was faulty but they continued to operate it anyway.
“The driver of the crane said there was issues but was told to just keep an eye on the block.
“He had a moment where he didn’t look and it (the weight) had gone too high and the block came down.
“The block would have weighed between 300kg to 500kg.
“I’ve looked at the log books and have seen there has been multiple issues.”
Morris Property Group director Barry Morris yesterday said it was up to the subcontractor Falcon Cranes to investigate the incident.
“Falcon Cranes are doing an investigation on the incident and until they’ve completed that investigation, MPG Construction Queensland can’t comment any further,” Mr Morris said.
“It’s a matter for Falcon Cranes. It’s their crane, they are a subcontractor on the site.”
Mr Gibson said it was lucky no -one was killed.
“There would have been about 30 to 50 people on site.”
“It missed an elderly lady who was walking on the road by about 2m.”
The woman was “shaken” but not physically hurt. She is said to be a regular at the cafe and walks past the site twice a day.
Locals reported the cable lashed a home on the opposite site of Bondi Ave as the hook crashed to the ground.
“There was a bit of luck that went on today,” one man said.
“For the last week there’s been around 100 blokes having smoko out the front there, and that’s where the smoko van pulls up too.”
Neither the Queensland Police or Queensland Ambulance Service were called to the scene.