§ Mr. GRACEasked the Home Secretary how many accidents occurred by the use of cranes during the years 1927, 1928, and 1929, respectively; how many proved fatal; how many were due to overloading; and what action he proposes to take to avoid such risks in the future?
§ Mr. CLYNESThe total number of accidents caused by lifting machinery of all kinds is given each year in the tables published at the end of the Annual Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, but I regret that the number of accidents due to use of cranes in particular cannot be separately given. Cases of crane failures have, however, been specially tabulated during the last three years, and are set out in the following table:
Year. Number of Crane failures. Cases causing fatal accidents. Failures definitely assigned to overloading. 1927 … 75 16 2 1928 … 77 13 4 1929 … 90 19 7 Both the Building and the Docks Regulations contain special provisions relating to cranes; and as regards the building industry, steps are about to be taken by means of amendments to the existing Regulations to adopt further precautions, which have been agreed at recent conferences with the employers' and workers' representatives and with the crane manufacturers, and in particular to apply the specified standard of the British Engineering Standards Association to new cranes used on building operations, and to bring up existing cranes, so far as practicable, to the same standard. As regards other industries, the association are engaged in drawing up specifications relating to other types of cranes, and these standards, when available, should lead to a general improvement. Certain precautions against accidents from cranes, which will be applicable to all industries, will also be included in the Factories Bill.