Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Crane Incidents and Crane Safety

Crane incidents report April-May 2015
Crane incidents report April-May 2015

28th of May 2015

Good Morning Mr Editor,

President Franklin D. Rooselvelt said on Saturday 4th March 1933, that “ This is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously.” and while he personally was talking about resolution of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, his excellent words can also be applied to the ever growing problem of Crane Incidents in the Construction Industry.  Therefore having now analysed and recorded a total of 645 Crane and Lifting Incidents since 7th May 2007, I can confirm that…. 

1. Twenty Nine (29) separate Incidents Worldwide involving Cranes and/or Lifting Operations Killed 17 Men, 2 Women and 2 children in April and May 2015.

2. These 29 Incidents involved 13 Truck Mounted Cranes, 5 Crawler Cranes, 3 Towers, 7 AWP’s and Dropped Loads.

3. Cause of Incident(s) were No Risk Assessments, No Mats, No Outriggers, No Ballast or Not Enough, Overloaded beyond the LMI,  Fatal Falls from Height and Three Dropped Loads. 


Crane incidents report April-May 2015 

Therefore it is my submission to the Construction Industry Worldwide that Crane Safety is not getting better, in fact it could well be argued that the 29 Fatal Incidents above confirms it is getting worse, as these figures extrapolated over 2015, calculates as 126 Killed by Cranes and/or Lifting Operations and the appalling possibility of 174 incidents Incidents in total. 

Please let No-One describe these as ‘Crane Accidents’ for an ‘Accident' is only an ‘Accident’ if it is Accidental and to be Accidental it must be Not-Foreseeable, like Lightning.  

Yet for many of these Fatal Incident Victims these Incidents were entirely foreseeable due to No Risk Assessments, Outriggers Not Fully Extended or Short-Rigged,  No Mats, No Fall-Arrest Harness Worn and Clipped-On,  No ‘Safe System of Work’ and Dropped Loads, to name but eight of many Hazards present, all of which would have been clearly identified in advance by undertaking a ‘ Suitable and Sufficient Risk Assessment' (see Reg 3(1) of The Management Regulations 1999 in UK) before attempting the Task. 


Crane incidents report April-May 2015 

The Worst Example of Unsafe Crane Operations year to date took place in Taiwan on Friday evening the 10th April 2014, when a Box section Girder of 209 tonnes (circa 460,000 lbs in USA) was dropped during a Tandem Lift by Two Large Capacity Mobile Cranes (With No Mats visible under Outrigger Jack Pads) : As if this were not bad enough, the Lift was taking place beside a live road with Evening Traffic in Full flow.   

 Check it out HERE

This Dropped Load then crushed a Silver Car passing by Killing the Female Driver, as well as Three Workers Riding the Load upto its intended landing position on the Concrete Pillars:  

Even the most elementary Risk Assessment would have identified the Hazards of this complex Lift undertaken in such close proximity to a Public Road, all of which is a clear example of Two incompatible practices. As my learned friends will confirm, all Lift Sites should be Cordoned Off with Barriers and the Perimeter Fence set outside the ‘Fall Radius’ of the Crane Jib or Boom.  That is the length of the Jib or Boom, plus 10% Safety Factor as a minimum. 


Crane incidents report April-May 2015 

The Best Example is the States manlike CEO of Total Oil who is be congratulated for taking such an honourable position with regard to the Dropped Load in Dragados Fabrication Yard on Thursday 5th March 2015. 

 For this reputable company investigated what went wrong, then published a formal report to the entire world. The effect of this is that we can ALL learn from this Dropped Load Report, to ensure no repeat of this Rigging mistake. The CEO of Total Oil is to be publicly congratulated for taking this honourable and states manlike step. So on behalf of all the Widows of all the Men killed by Cranes over the years, I thank the CEO of Total Oil for publishing his Report.  Check it out on:  TOTAL HERE

Finally and in closing, ESTA President Christian J. Vernazza recognised the ever increasing frequency of these Fatal Incidents and requested a Crane Safety Code of Practice be drafted on Friday 14th Oct 2011, however despite this being done the problem is still unresolved. 

 Therefore if ever we are to resolve this appalling Death Toll, it requires some ‘Fresh Thinking’ on the part of the Crane Industry, starting with Non-Acceptance and Non-Use of the word ‘Accident’.

Only then can the CEO finally start to pro-actively Manage Crane Safety correctly ? My personal condolences to the Families of Crane Victims above, for I too have felt your pain as my Father In Law David Stanford (above) was killed by an NCK 605 Crawler Crane, with the Power Lowering Disabled by the Hoist Rope being swapped to the Drag Drum on Friday 15th Jan 1988.

Worker Safety is my core value, please make it a Core Value in all Crane and/or Lifting Operations.
With Kindest Regards to all .
Mike Ponsonby BA