By Ian Grooby
CEO, Crane Association of New Zealand
The revised Code of Practice for Cranes came into effect on January 7, 2010.
There have been a number of changes when compared with the previous issue and these have been made to try to ensure that no sectors have been disadvantaged. Fair to say that it would be impossible to cater for every wish but, given the spirit of co-operation between industry, the inspection bodies, Department of Labour officials and other interested parties, this is the best document that could be produced.
Whether industry wishes to continue with having an approved code or move to industry best practice guidelines will be debated in a couple of years time, when revisions may be required.
What many people are overlooking is that compliance with the code is not mandatory, but, should there be an incident or accident, the court may take the code into account.
As far as the new requirement for qualifications is concerned, Part 4 indicates minimum unit standards for various types of cranes, and the Crane Association and the crane industry training organisation consider that the major way of proving competency is by having staff assessed against recognised standards – hence the list that has been provided.
This is the first time in New Zealand where there has been a clear statement that crane operators should hold some minimum requirements, and we were one of a few countries in the western world where certification or qualifications have not been a requirement. Interesting when one considers that a person is required to hold the appropriate drivers licence to move a mobile crane to and from site but is not required to hold any form of “ticket” to operate it on site.
One area that has caused considerable concern over the years is the question of design verification. This can be very complex and emotive and I suggest that people read the document thoroughly to ensure they are fully aware of the requirements.
There are now two options available:
-
Document review, which covers cranes from manufacturers producing standard cranes, designed and built to acceptable standards; or
-
Design analysis, which allows a design verifier to be able to establish that all structural, mechanical, hydraulic and electrical parts meet specified code requirements with respect to stress, deflection, fatigue and seismic and wind loading.
A considerable amount of discussion with the inspection agencies took place before this part of the Code was signed off.
There were major concerns within industry as a result of the actions taken in Australia relative to its new requirements for cranes to be “stripped down” when they reached 10 and 25 years of age. Unfortunately, when this matter was mentioned at our conference in Rotorua in 2006, the officials who were in attendance failed to take account of the differences between the New Zealand system and that which has been introduced in Australia. What was overlooked was the fact that in New Zealand all cranes must be inspected annually by inspectors employed independent third party inspection bodies which are registered by the Department of Labour.
This has been in force in New Zealand for many years. Such a system did not exist in Australia and the authorities there finally recognised that something needed to be done to try to improve safety in their industry.
It took representatives from industry and a number of meetings involving councillors to convince the officials from the Department of Labour that the Australian system was not need in New Zealand as our system was robust, provided the regulations were adhered to and officials made a point of checking cranes. It was a relief for all crane companies when commonsense prevailed and this item was not include in the revised code.
A major change has been made in relation to truck loader cranes where there are requirements for those under 0.9 tonne metre and those above that size. There is also an exemption from the requirements of design verification for all truck loader cranes under 15 tonne metre that were in New Zealand as at February 1, 2010.
As part of the discussions with the Department of Labour it was agreed that this code (as the name suggests) is for cranes and “includes the design, manufacture, supply, safe operation, maintenance and inspection of cranes”.
It was never the intention to cover every other type of machine that could be used as a crane and people familiar with the former documents will note that some items of plant that were formerly included are now not mentioned, e.g. telehandlers, diggers etc.
The Crane Association also agreed with department officials that discussions would take place very soon after the code was released to identify those items where it was considered that the development of best practice guidelines would be in the best interest of the industries concerned. A preliminary list has been considered by councillors and this could include (not in any priority order) man cages, telehandlers, piling/drill rigs, and repairing of cranes and booms. Then, as mentioned earlier, industry will need to determine whether or not this present code should be revised or replaced with separate guidelines covering the specific types of cranes.
Although this was a long drawn out exercise it has now shown what can be done when people are prepared to sit down and determine what is best for the whole industry rather than dealing with items in isolation.
For many, it has restored their faith in officialdom.
Contractor Vol.34 No.3 April 2010
All articles on this website are copyright to Contrafed Publishing Co. Ltd.
