After several years of pressure, the creation of a statutory tower crane registration scheme to improve tower crane safety and public confidence in their safety has been announced.

A number of high-profile cases involving crane collapses in recent years, including several fatalities, have led to various groups demanding official action. The new register has been agreed alongside a package of measures to improve tower crane safety and is likely to be in place by April 2010.

James Purnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, said: “It's unacceptable that people are dying directly as a cause of their work with tower cranes and I want to prevent this toll of human misery.”

The register is part of a package of proposals to improve tower crane safety, including, Mr Purnell said, working with the industry to improve the competence of those involved in handling tower cranes and carrying out targeted inspection work over the next 12 months.

The statutory scheme will be preceded by a voluntary registration scheme, details of which are currently being worked on with the plant safety group of the Strategic Forum for Construction. It should be in operation later this year.

The proposal for a statutory tower crane registration scheme stems from the April 2008 report by the Work and Pensions Select Committee into the role of the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The report recommended that HSE should bring forward such proposals, to include information such as ownership, age, design type and other relevant factors.