A Year in Reports: The top 10 most read CROSS Safety Reports of 2024
Hello 2025 and goodbye to 2024! From car parks, to digital engineering, to concerns about competency; join us as we countdown some of our most popular Safety Reports of the last twelve months, including a few you may have missed the first time around.
| We start the countdown with this Report from May. A reporter notes that over the last 20 years there has been a significant increase in the gross weight of vehicles that are able to use multi storey car parks, leading to fears over safety. |
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| A tale of woe that will be familiar to many of our readers. A lay client that is reluctant to accept good advice on the grounds that they know better, and underfunded local authorities unable to respond to reasonable concerns expressed by a professional. |
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| A reporter shares that, while involved with the fit-out works of a building, they came across an unusual steelwork connection during the inspection of the existing structure in this Report from May. |
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| A reporter provides details of the sudden collapse of a precast concrete canopy which sat over their front doorway. The canopy was a cantilever and was monolithic with the lintel. The collapse could have led to a fatality or serious injury. |
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| Published in February, this Report highlights concerns that Approved Document B (ADB) is being misapplied or misinterpreted when applying structural fire protections to a roof structure. |
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| A reporter highlights concerns regarding fire travel in a modular floor cassette with inbuilt services. In their comments, the CROSS Expert Panel acknowledge that information regarding the fire safety of modular structures is limited and outline a range of design objectives that should be addressed. |
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| Back in May, a reporter told CROSS about an incident where a stone balcony collapsed without warning from first floor level onto steps below. Balconies (and their failure) have been a regular feature of past CROSS Reports. |
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| Two mid terrace properties had been underpinned and excavated to form a new basement whilst simultaneously removing internal and rear walls. This left the building in a dangerous condition and subject to a demolition order from the local council. |
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| During a site visit to a major development of a public building, a reporter found critically under designed moment splice connections located at the midspan of the stringers of three, 9 metre span staircases in this report from August. |
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| Competency (or a lack of it) is a common theme throughout many of the reports we receive, so it’s perhaps no surprise that this takes the number 1 slot. A chartered engineer’s check found retaining walls, designed by a person not qualified as a civil or structural engineer and who relied solely on a computer program, to be inadequate. It is likely the walls will need to be demolished and rebuilt. |
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