Crane safety for construction sites: shared responsibility of multiple parties

Crane safety is of paramount importance to all people involved at construction sites. Any crane accidents could possibly result in the severe or lethal injuries of workers and bystanders. If by luck, no one gets hurt, the postponed schedule and repair cost could be highly expensive. Therefore, site manager, controller, operator and dogman and many other responsible people play a pivotal role to guarantee the safe operation of crane machines throughout the project construction.

To begin with, site manager is responsible for the overall coordination of the safe operation whose work starts even before the crane arrives. They need to discuss with controllers about the crane safety issues, such as the cranes’ access to the site, its assembly, lifting and disassembly. They together guarantee that the crane is set up on a level and compacted ground, there is enough space for the crane outriggers and boom, emergency service and contact person are available if any accidents happened. They will also check the competency of operators, crane erection crew and dogmen.

At the same time, the controllers need to check that the machines are safely operating and have taken inspections regularly and proper maintenance which are vital to the crane safety. They also have the responsibility to confirm that the operators, dogmen and other workers are competent enough and have working experience with the same model of crane machine.

In addition, operators and dogmen are responsible for the crane safety. Operators need to follow the instructions, manuals and operating procedures provided by the manufacturer, and must be sure the the crane is in a safe condition before operation. The dogmen need to work with the operators to plan the lifting work. They also need to ensure the load is rigged correctly and safely directing the cranes.