Urban explorers ‘risking death’ on Britain’s building sites

Posted on Friday 1 January 2010

Television and press coverage of ‘urban explorers’ who take selfies on top of high buildings and structures are encouraging people to risk their lives in British building sites according to a UK plant hire company.

Tower cranes and high-rise buildings under construction are seen as east targets of copycat explorers whose sole aim is to take a selfie or shoot a YouTube video in a dangerous situation.

According to CraneHireUK.co.uk, the fad not only has the potential to end in death or serious injury, but there’s also added costs for the construction trade which has to beef up security in response.

“There’s no end of beautifully-photographed articles on the internet showing spectacular views from the tops of cranes and half-finished buildings,” said CraneHireUK.co.uk ‘s Mark Hall, “and that’s inspiring copycats who fancy having a go themselves.”

The danger is increased by the fact that many people fancying themselves as urban explorers don’t have the climbing skills that those featured on television documentaries have, and in some cases the decision to climb a tower crane in the dead of night is often made on the spur of the moment.

“In fact,” says Hall, “some of those collared by building site security guards are the worse for wear from alcohol. These people are genuinely dicing with death, and – quite frankly – we’ve rescued them from their own misadventure.”

CraneHireUK.co.uk say that the number of people taking selfies and shooting videos from the top of building site tower cranes surged after spectacular photographs emerged last year of a group who climbed London’s Shard building while it was still under construction.

“While everybody in the construction industry rightly condemned these trespassers, the difference between these and Friday night have-a-go types is that they’re well organised and experienced climbers,” says Hall.

Another BBC news report on Russian climbers also provoked copycat trespasses on construction sites, CraneHireUK.co.uk said.

“The end result is that the construction trade has to ramp up security at major sites just to keep these lunatics away from the cranes,” says Hall. “It costs a small fortune in extra staff and surveillance equipment, but it’s got to be done.”

While organised British groups regularly boast of their “splores” on YouTube and social media, CraneHireUK.co.uk would rather they left construction sites to the card-carrying and fully-trained professionals who work there.

“Crane operators are highly skilled, are constantly assessed, and take endless safety courses to ensure that they can use a crane with a 100% safety record,” Hall explains.

“The thought that anyone with an urge can climb into a crane cab over a hundred feet off the ground with little or no safety equipment is a constant worry to us.

“Building sites are not adventure playgrounds.”