Audrey Edmonson
WD: Why do you think crane inspections are necessary?
AE: Here in Miami-Dade we experienced a few deaths from crane accidents. As a matter of fact the most recent one was a construction worker who was killed while working the crane and the crane just failed. It caused major gridlock and stopped the city for three days.
WD: Why do you think crane inspections are necessary?: Why isn’t self-regulation enough?
AE: Whenever you have deaths involved and there is self-regulation, that is proof right there that self-regulation is not enough. It is time for the government to take over. It is always the safety of workers that should be our main concern and priority. I called for the formation of this crane and heavy-duty equipment panel, with crane business owners, developers, and anyone else to do with the construction industry, because I am not fully aware of what it takes.
WD: What if they come back and say nothing needs to be done?
a: I’ve sat in the audience on numerous occasions and they are not coming back with that. The industry also believes that there needs to be some kind of policy in place not only in Miami-Dade, but also in Florida.
WD: Have you had any resistance to more regulation?
AE: I haven’t heard if there is any resistance among city officials. What I expected was resistance from the business itself. And I haven’t received it. As a matter of fact, the workgroup is chaired by Richard Horton – the president of contractor Green Construction.
WD: Do you have a background in construction?
AE: No, I don’t. I’m a politician that saw the need to govern heavy-duty equipment. When we started having deaths involved, it was time for someone to step in. I’ve been interested in reducing crime here. We do have a high crime level.
WD: How did you learn about this?
AE: Whenever there is a death involved, the media covers it. When you have someone literally fall from a crane, right in their son’s vision, who was a witness, it is very devastating. There is no family involved in this initiative. What it takes is the people from this industry. We need people from the industry to come up with their needs to govern the use of the cranes. There are no policies in effect.
WD: Why not?
AE: It’s never been done. We are governed by OSHA, which has a state and federal organisation, but it does not come in and inspect the equipment on a regular basis, only when there is an incident. So individual companies are left to inspect their own cranes, and there have been numerous incidents experienced. Maybe it is because there is lots of building going on – there are cranes all over the place, and this would increase the numbers of accidents. But if there are going to be lots of accidents in Miami-Dade, and I am a politician on the county commission, then it is my duty to step up and do something about it.
