Do Crane Operators Need More Regulation and Inspection?

Sandy Grinnell

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Another crane collapsed this week-end in at the Titusville Municipal Marina. Fortunately there were no injuries this time. There was a diesel oil spill that was being sopped up from the by an environmental cleanup crew to prevent it from spreading out into the fragile lagoon.

There have been five other instances in which a construction crane has fallen in the just the past four months:

March 16 - four people and many other injured were killed in Manhattan when a construction crane crashed across the street and into a townhome and five other buildings.

March 26 - two people died in Miami when a crane toppled over onto a house being used as a construction office

May 30 - at least 2 people died in Manhattan when a crane collapsed and landed across the street onto a 23-story apartment building

July 18 - four people died at a Houston refinery when a crane collapsed

July 27 - an 80 year-old man was killed when a crane collapsed on his car as he was watching the crane operator

According to MSNBC, "many states have no count of their cranes, nor do they mandate training for workers who run the equipment, or for officials who certify crane operators" and Florida is one of of these states. Over the past year or so there have been as many as six cranes that dotted the Orlando skyline. Was everyone who lives or works downtown at risk of one of these cranes toppling over on the building they are in? It's unfathomable that you can operate a crane some 20 stories tall and not be required to have a license.