SINGAPORE — With the use of cranes on the rise — in tandem with the growth in construction activity in Singapore — the Government is looking more closely at how to make crane operations safer.

It has launched a trial to use data loggers on cranes to record whether they are being used safely — such as whether cranes are overloaded and by how much.

The trial will be completed by the end of this year.

If successful, the Government may consider making the installation of data loggers mandatory for certain cranes, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Manpower Hawazi Daipi said yesterday at the third annual Crane Safety Symposium.

A tower crane collapsed at the National Art Gallery construction site on Sept 30, killing two workers and severely injuring four others. “The accident would have had more far-reaching implications resulting in more deaths, including the public, if it had happened along a crowded road, especially when the counterweight crashed,” said Mr Hawazi.

Between July and September, during an inspection of the safety of crane operations in the construction and manufacturing sectors, the Ministry of Manpower checked 90 workplaces and found 189 instances of the rules being flouted.

The ministry issued 107 composition fines to 61 companies for crane safety lapses and two stop-work orders. Common contraventions included companies failing to maintain cranes in good working condition as well as failing to implement safe lifting plans.

Another operation last year looking at the safety of lifting operations at worksites involving cranes had uncovered similar issues. Then, 31 companies were fined and five stop-work orders were issued.

As of end-September, there were three crane-related workplace deaths, compared to five in the same time last year. There were also 12 cases of crane-related dangerous incidents, compared to 14 in the same period last year.

The Land Transport Authority, which is involved in the data logger trial, is already using them at its Thomson Line project. Each data logger costs at least S$21,000.

Mr Henry Ho, Workplace Safety and Health Manager at Shanghai Tunnel Engineering, which is involved in some Thomson Line projects, said: “We’ve seen a trend in crane operators behaving very well — they’re operating the cranes safely and there’s less overloading.”

Mr Hawazi also said the authorities will take a “deeper look” in the human factors involved in crane safety, noting that there has been feedback that some crane operators are employed under poor working conditions.

LEONG WAI KIT