A company has been fined after the hook broke off a tower crane and its four tonne load crashed 36 metres to the ground, narrowly missing a footpath.
The load - which was part of a building under construction on 3 November 2007 at a college - came down heavily beside part of the campus regularly used by students. The impact also demolished the site boundary fence and damaged a college building.
The cran hire company, which owned and operated the crane, appeared at Hertford Magistrates' Court and admitted breaching health and safety laws in a prosecution brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The company admitted breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and Regulation 5(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007 and was fined £18,000 and ordered to pay £15,837.45 in costs.
A HSE inspector commented:
"It was a matter of good fortune that no-one was injured in this entirely avoidable incident.
"Those undertaking lifting operations have absolute duties to plan, supervise and carry them out safely. Maintenance staff had indentified safety-critical faults in the crane yet simple controls needed to prevent use of defective equipment were not implemented. Poor communication and teamwork, together with inadequate supervision, all contributed to this incident.
"This case has important lessons for all those operating lifting equipment and especially tower cranes."