Florida passes bill to enhance crane safety on construction sites
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — Last year's hurricanes left their mark on the area, destroying homes and businesses, and ripping apart the roof on Tropicana Field. We also saw a construction crane topple in downtown St. Petersburg. In response, state lawmakers launched a 'listening tour' to assess what the state did right and where it fell short.
Lawmakers heard from constituents and local governments about what needed to change before the next hurricane hits. Those conversations led to one big hurricane bill, a portion of which focuses on crane safety, especially following the St. Petersburg crane collapse.
'Residents everywhere were super frustrated because it felt like something that could have been avoided,' said State Senator Fiona McFarland, (R-Sarasota).
When Milton hit St. Petersburg last October, it's heavy winds caused a crane to crash onto another building across the way. From that, lawmakers knew they needed to find a solution.'Before the bill was passed, current law was pretty silent on how cranes needed to be treated in a construction site,' said McFarland.
There may have been building codes and safety standards, but no specific rules about cranes during a hurricane.'It's a it's a unique kind of situation where you have OSHA with their level of responsibility when it comes to health and the safety of crane operators, but then when it comes to the things that we we're laying out, there was just no state enforcement, no state mechanism,' said State Senator Nick DiCeglie, (R-Indian Rocks Beach).
Now construction sites need to secure hoisting equipment 24 hours before a hurricane is expected to hit.'All work sites will have to have a plan in place available for inspection, and that plan details what equipment they have on the scene, what needs to be secured, maybe a timeline if they need to remove any equipment,' said McFarland.
Those who choose to violate the new law could lose their license.
Governor Ron DeSantis has yet to sign the new bill. In October he responded to the crane crash saying more common sense was needed.'The question is should there be more regulation or more common sense? Do we have to regulate everything? I mean, most people take the cranes down,' said DeSantis.
After getting input from the construction industry, building industry, local towns and cities, Lawmakers say they struck a balance all parties can agree on.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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