The year that was for the crane sector

2016 has been another tough year for our industry, with a reported slowing for total construction investment in 2015-16 of -9.8% versus a forecast of -2.4% given last year. Of course, this is the figure for total construction however, there were pockets, which continued to show strong growth, namely multi-level apartment construction, which was up 18.6%. The good news is that the 2016-17 forecast is for positive growth at 4.6%, driven mainly by infrastructure-related engineering works with road and rail leading the way.
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Consultation commences on LEEA apprenticeships

Following initial discussions with the IFA and having identified a gap in the apprenticeship scheme for the occupation of Lifting Equipment Examiner, LEEA will now be inviting its members to come together to form the necessary ‘trailblazer’ group, which will meet to work out what the sector actually needs from its future workforce. Interested members must be committed to take on apprentices in their own businesses and willing to contribute to the drafting of an occupation proposal, which will in the future form an apprenticeship standard. 
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Pick and carry crane road safety

This is a document that introduces a speed limit on pick and carry cranes, whereby under the National Class 1 Special Purpose Vehicle Notice 2016 (No 1) the State Schedules for Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania now state: “A pick and carry crane must not exceed 80kph.” Pick and carry cranes are our most common crane in Australia with numbers in the thousands. I’ve written many bulletins about them due to the high number of risk factors involved, particularly mobiling with loads.
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