The government has pledged to introduce a statutory scheme for the registration of tower cranes from April next year.
The announcement was contained in its response, published in October, to a report by the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, which was unveiled in the summer.
A prototype of the register, which is intended to improve the control and management of risks in the use of tower cranes, should be in place by January, ministers said.
The government is also working on a series of other measures to improve health and safety in this area, including the development of competence requirements for crane erectors and dismantlers, and research into the effect of wind on cranes, which is expected to be published by the middle of next year.
In response to committee complaints that the quality and coverage of ill-health data remains too low and incomplete in the UK, the government acknowledged that available data on work-related ill health was “sparse and coverage should be improved”.
The Department for Work and Pensions revealed that it was considering whether a person’s occupation should be recorded alongside other data on the new Fit Note, due to be launched nationally on 1 April next year.
