CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2019 15 the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, irtec accreditation scheme which offers pathways for maintenance and inspection of heavy vehicles which has been adopted for mobile cranes. In Neil Peveller’s presentation, he referred to a number of high profile incidents surrounding the roadworthiness of vehicles, and stressed that the industry has to have some compulsory elements of responsibility and be seen as proactive as opposed to reactive. The first of the high profile incidents that brought roadworthiness of mobile cranes into the public domain was an incident in Aberdeenshire in 2008, where a 35 tonne two axle mobile crane was travelling south down the A92. One of the flexible hydraulic hoses supplying the crane’s suspension system was rubbing against a mounting bracket and was leaking, spraying oil onto the road surface. A number of cars skidded on the slippery road surface including one driven by a mother with her two daughters in the car. This vehicle collided with a car travelling in the opposite direction and the mother and her daughters were tragically killed. The subsequent Fatal Accident Enquiry found that the accident was caused by a lack of effective maintenance of the crane. Neil presented evidence of other fatal incidents in West Yorkshire in 2009 and in Lancashire in 2011. With the meeting drawing to a close, CPA Chief Executive Kevin Minton said that this was just the start of introducing the concept of the voluntary roadworthiness scheme for mobile cranes to the industry and there was still a great deal of work to introduce it to CPA members and further afield. Colin Wood added that he believed the scheme would be become an industry benchmark and that several prosecutions have quoted CPA documentation. In summary, as a voluntary scheme it is up to crane owners to adopt if they wish to. If owners decide to adopt the scheme, they will need a lead-in period to gain familiarity with the scheme, review inspection facilities, decide whether to use a third party inspection body or recruit and train in-house inspectors and set up the necessary systems before carrying out inspections. Whilst the voluntary roadworthiness scheme is primarily aimed at mobile cranes outside the scope of the plating and testing regulations, it may be applied to other vehicle mounted equipment such as MEWPs operating under STGO. The ‘Good Practice Guide: Annual Roadworthiness Inspection Scheme for Mobile Cranes Mounted on Non- Standard Chassis’ can be downloaded for free from www.cpa.uk.net/crane- interest-group-publications-guidance/ Skyline Arcomet Ltd | 609 London Road | West Thurrock | Essex | RM20 3BJ Tel: +44 (0)1708 860534 | Fax: +44 (0)1708 861553 Email: sales@skylinearcomet.com | Website: www.skylinearcomet.com SALES | RENTAL | SERVICE | MAINTENANCE ASSOCIATIONNEWS: 5