The UK’s largest construction union, Unite, has written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, urging that he takes action to ensure the safety of mobile cranes when they are driven on roads.
Unite are calling for the introduction of compulsory testing and taco graph systems, which they say will improve safety and provide reassurance to both drivers and other road users that the vehicles are safe to be used on the road.
At present, these vehicles can be driven on the roads without any restrictions and without the driver being required to take mandatory breaks.
Mobile cranes are currently exempt from requiring an annual MOT. The Department of Transport recently announced that it plans to introduce regulations which will require mobile cranes that are on an HGV chassis to have MOT’s. The introduction of MOT’s would hopefully reduce safety risks and danger to road users – at the end of September 2017, long delays were caused on the M62 after a mobile crane caught fire.
The Unite National Officer for Construction, Bernard McAulay said
Members of the public will be concerned that there are no rules ensuring that these large machines are roadworthy. Mobile crane drivers need to know that they are in a safe vehicle.
It is also wrong that drivers are currently allowed to drive these cranes for hours on end without any requirements to have a break. This is dangerous for both the driver and other road users.
