A crane driver did a “remarkable job” in keeping everyone safe after the jib on his 54-year-old dock crane collapsed when a cable snapped, a court has been told.
A&P Falmouth appeared at Truro Crown Court today for sentencing after pleading guilty to two charges under the health and safety act following the accident in 2017.
The court heard the driver’s actions at Falmouth Docks on May 10 had stopped the jib collapsing onto the RFA Tidespring which was alongside at the time with 108 people on board.
“Derek Allen was the driver at the time, and can we make it plain that it seems he did a remarkable job to ensure everyone was kept as safe as possible in the circumstances by controlling where it landed,” said the prosecution.
“He heard a massive bang and put the crane into neutral, but the jib kept going. He shouted to the men below that the jib had gone and waved his hands. It went past the cut-off point and the alarm sounded.
“When it stopped the jib was much lower than it was allowed to go. He saw a banksman and a painter on the ship. He checked the winch ring which was dusty and smoky at the time.
“He went to the winch house and saw that one ballast weight had gone and another was right at the top of the stop point.
“He then slewed the jib around over the doc and left the crane. After reaching the ground he heard another bang and saw the jib come down to the floor with equipment coming out of the winch room throwing up the debris.”
The cause of the cable snapping was later found to be corrosion due to a lack of lubrication.
The court heard charges against Zurich Management Services, the company responsible for examining the crane and compiling a safety and maintenance report for A&P were dismissed last year.
The court heard that A&P didn’t have any in-house specialists to do that and employed Zurich to do so at a cost of £158,000 a year.
The prosecution said that A&P should not just have relied on the six-monthly Zurich reports but should have questioned its recommendations about the crane.
These recognised engineering faults such as the steel wire for the crane being corroded but did not recommend when the work should be carried out.
Some reports even appeared to be cut and pasted from the last one, the prosecution said.
The prosecution said a lack of clarity in the reports should have prompted enquires by A&P as it was their equipment.
“They didn’t have anything but ten-year assumption of the life span for the cable which snapped which was arbitrary,” they said.
They said there was no system of maintenance for the cable to be lubricated. An expert who examined the cable after the accident found it should have been discarded in 2016. The last lubrication was recorded in 2009.
They said a new computer maintenance system and a paper system combined had failed. There were no records how often the crane had been used and no proper thorough maintenance plan.
“A wire rope has a life span, A&P should not have assumed that the life span of the rope was ten years but take in account its use and position,” said the prosecutor.
The court heard that in February 2017 a crane load test check was carried which it passed but it may have weakened the cable as the weight used was so heavy.
The prosecution said the crane first collapsed into a position where it came to rest suspended above the RFA Tidespring. The driver of the crane then turned it towards the dock and the jib then fell onto the dock floor.
“No-one was injured in the incident however serious injury and damage was risked by the event,” said the prosecutor.
“There were people on the ship, people on the docks and the driver in the crane. It is accepted that there was a banksman preventing anyone from going under the crane.
“There were 108 people on the Tidespring and if the jib had carried in going into the Tide Spring it could have caused injuries there.
There were also acetylene containers near to the area of the collapse, he said.
He said the jib of the crane was moved by what are known as luffing cables which are steel wires. They were rooted around heavy drums and moved around the docks on rails.
The cable was 92 metres long and 28 millimetres in diameter. As the cable snapped and wire round the drum snapped part of the mechanism was thrown out of the wheelhouse through the structure.
“The driver in the initial collapse went in to check the room, left, there was then a further collapse and then the equipment and machinery came flying out of that room,” said the prosecution.
The court was told the crane was manufactured in 1958 and was about 59 years old operating on a long track anchored by two 35 tonne counterweights.
The prosecution said a health and safety officer carrying inspections on a tarmac vessel next to the Tide Spring was in conversation with another man on the deck of the Tidespring when they heard a very loud bang from the area of crane 21.
“They heard the noise from the jib of crane 21 speeding up rapidly lowering,” said the prosecutor.
“It began at an unremarkable speed before it plummeted towards the ship uncontrollably, but it came to a halt resting with the jib much lower that it was supposed to go before impacting the ship.
“There were then shouts to evacuate the Tidespring as the driver slewed the jib towards the dock and it ultimately came to rest on the dock floor.”
A&P in their defence said that it was the first time in its 125 years that something like this had happened.
It apologised and said the incident happened ten years ago and there had been a complete change in the business management just before the accident happened.
It said the crane structure was inspected and greased.
“What seems to have fallen through the net is greasing the wires,” the company’s defence barrister said.
“Where we fell down is that we didn’t react appropriately when Zurich kept coming back to us and categorising this as a category B rather than a category A.
“There was a comprehensive system in place, but it didn’t operate for the wires as comprehensively as it should.
He said they paid Zurich £58,000 every year as specialists to inspect the ropes. “We [A&P] relied almost exclusively on to tell us whether or not that crane should have effectively put out of operation.
The judge will sentence the company tomorrow morning.
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