News location:

Canberra Today 17°/23° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Mobile crane tip over kills man in Belconnen

image

ACT Policing is investigating the death of a man at a construction site in Belconnen tonight (Thursday 4 August).

Police were alerted to the incident on Aikman Drive around 6.40pm where a mobile crane had tipped over.

ACT Policing’s Criminal Investigation Team are conducting a joint investigation with WorkSafe ACT and will prepare a report for the coroner.

Investigations are ongoing.

Police remind people they should not report crime information via Facebook and Twitter pages.


UPDATE: Worksafe have released a statement:

ACT Work Safety Commissioner Greg Jones has expressed his sincere condolences to the family and colleagues of a worker tragically killed at the University of Canberra Public Hospital site on Thursday evening.

“Worksafe ACT can confirm that the fatality was the result of a mobile crane carrying a large generator rolling onto its side, with the boom coming into contact with the worker,” Mr Jones said.

The site has now been handed over to WorkSafe ACT from ACT Policing. Worksafe’s major investigation team is now conducting a thorough and rigorous investigation of the incident that will continue over coming days, with ongoing co-operation from ACT Policing.

“The Worksafe investigation will assess areas such as mechanical safety, ground conditions, safe work systems and standards, and the training and briefing provided to workers. A geotechnical expert is assisting with the assessment of the ground conditions, and the manufacturers of the crane are also assisting with the investigation into the crane’s operation.

“This tragic incident highlights the need for all construction site operators to ensure that they have adequate safety methods in place, that workers are trained in their operation and that the safety methods are closely followed,” Mr Jones said.

Counselling for workers has been arranged through the head contractor and the CFMEU.

The incident is unrelated to an issue associated with a tower crane on the site as part of crane safety compliance audit conducted earlier in the week.

It is anticipated that further information will be available following today’s investigations.

Who can be trusted?

In a world of spin and confusion, there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.

If you trust our work online and want to enforce the power of independent voices, I invite you to make a small contribution.

Every dollar of support is invested back into our journalism to help keep citynews.com.au strong and free.

Become a supporter

Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

Share this

Leave a Reply

Related Posts

Follow us on Instagram @canberracitynews