Cranes may be fitted with 'black boxes' as safety requirement

SINGAPORE — The Manpower Ministry is currently holding a pilot trial on fitting construction cranes with “black boxes”, before deciding if such devices should be made compulsory as a safety requirement.

This was revealed at the third Crane Safety Symposium held at the Singapore Expo today (Oct 29).

Known as data loggers, the “black boxes” can record the load of cranes, and show how many times operators overload their cranes — and by how much. The devices — each costing at least S$21,000 — can then be used to ensure operators stick to safety rules.

The Land Transport Authority is already doing this with crane operators on its Thomson Line project.

Mr Henry Ho, workplace safety and health manager at Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, said: “The crane operators are notified that they’re closely monitored 24/7 by this data logger. And we’ve seen a trend in crane operators behaving very well — they’re operating the cranes safely and there’s less overloading. And with less overloading, it means lifting works are being carried out safely.” CHANNEL NEWSASIA