This draft report is concerned with a proposed Directive which would establish a system under which inspections would be carried out by national authorities and EEC type examination certificates issued for each type of tower crane which complies with the technical requirements specified. The manufacturer or his agent would issue a certificate of conformity for each type of tower crane constructed. It is an optional type of harmonisation so we would not be obliged to prohibit the use of tower cranes which did not comply with it but we would not be able to exclude tower cranes that did.
At paragraph 5 we point to the implications for Ireland. We note that there are regulations, the Construction (Safety, Health and Welfare) Regulations, 1975, made under the Factories Act, 1955, and these contain the existing provisions relating to cranes and we are advised that none of the conditions there prescribed would conflict with the proposed EEC specifications.
We are also informed that there is one company here in Ireland which is interested in the manufacture of tower cranes although they are not actually in production at the moment. Again we understand that this company has not indicated that they would have any difficulty with regard to the specifications in the draft Directive.
In paragraph 7 we say that we have no objection in principle to the draft Directive but we did receive a memorandum from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions which suggested that the detailed provisions of a technical nature are not adequate. What we have done in this draft report is to table the submissions made by Congress because they are basically related to safety at work. We suggest that these detailed provisions should be looked into before the Commission proposals are finished. So we are basically in favour of it but we want to have greater tightening of the technical safety provisions on the lines of the submissions provided by Congress.
