Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1979 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities > Report No. 56 - Tower Cranes

APPENDIX

Memorandum submitted by Irish Congress of Trade Unions

1. With regard to Section 2 of Annex (Access) Congress considers that it would be advisable to up-date this section, having in mind developments outside the EEC in the last few years. The Committee should note that legislation in Sweden since 1978 has decreed that Tower Cranes operating above a height of 30 metres should be equipped with a hoist to provide the operator, inspecting and service personnel with access to the car. This requirement arose out of investigations of persons falling to their death from Tower Crane ascent ladders, the cause being either heart failure indicated by the exertion of climbing or carelessness often compounded by cold, wet or windy conditions.

2. Congress considers that, for reasons of safety, the following items, for which provision has not been made, are of particular importance and should be included in the Proposal for a Directive:

(a)resistence (including the quality of the steel in Tower Cranes, particularly at low temperatures)

(b)the stability of Tower Cranes

(c)the use (including durability of Tower Cranes)

(d)the maintenance of Tower Cranes.

3. Congress considers that the following should also be included in the Proposal for a Directive:

(a)minimum sanitary arrangements in the cabin which can be used outside normal rest periods (particularly in the case of high-level cranes)

(b)devices for fixing nets to Tower Cranes (particularly on the jib).