Mechanical failure in the jib during commissioning caused the boom structure of a tower crane to come crashing down on BHP’s Worsley Alumina Refinery project near Collie, WA, on Wednesday afternoon January 13.

The boom damaged a number of amenities sheds and another crane, and narrowly missed some workers, but fortunately no-one was injured.

The incident occurred during load testing on the John Holland Pty Ltd construction project. The crane is subcontracted from NSW-based, Marrs Crane Hire Pty Ltd.

By midday Thursday, the Mines Department had still to enter the site to investigate the incident further.

The Worsley Alumina incident is the third crane collapse in WA in recent weeks.

On December 16, a  160T Demag crane fell over at H.R.Troons Pty Ltd tilt-up concrete showrooms site on Armadale Road in Jandakot, Perth. See separate incident report.

On January 11, a 3900T (truck mounted) Manitowoc fell over at Lampson (Australia) Pty Ltd's yard in Bassendean. The jib and fly fell into Jackson Street outside the yard, taking down powerlines. See separate incident report.

CFMEU WA report on the Worsley incident.  Watch this space for more details.