Crane Accidents Enhanced Reports

Doyle Peeks, Editor - brief résumé - contact

Crane Related Accidents
July 2001

ATTENTION! The numbers above indicate there is a great need for more training and safety awareness. Anyone having anything to do with cranes should take heed. The majority of the accidents were caused by human error. Translation: smart people doing dumb things.

Enhanced Reports — July 2001

10/05/01 late report: Pittsburg, Pennsylvania — 07/27/01: Crane Accident Closes Blvd. of The Allies
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A crane struck and loosened an overhead road sign on the Boulevard of the Allies near Duquesne University. Inbound lanes were shut down because of fears that the sign would fall onto a passing vehicle.

08/06/01 late report: Franklin, Georgia —

It is reported that on Monday July 23, Mr. Jeffery Thompson was killed at the Wansley Power Plant near Franklin, Georgia.

Reportedly, the outriggers of an on-site Grove crane were brought in to let the workers get by on the last day of work and when the operator got in the crane on Monday morning he must have forgotten they were still in and extended the boom. The Grove was a 70 ton, I do not know what the full length of the boom was, but it was fully extended as he swung right and started to boom down he flipped over landing on a Yance Company mechanic truck. Mr. Thompson was crushed against the truck.

08/15/01 update: Full report w/very nice photos. | Dead Link |
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You MUST have “Adobe Acrobat Reader” installed on your PC to open this document. It is in PDF format. The link is to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Web site.

" Please make an absolute point of sharing this with all team mates with special emphasis added to Crane Operators. This was an unloaded crane being operated with the outriggers down but not extended. The end result of this act of team and individual stupidity and inattention was a widow and 3 fatherless children.

The mechanics of this incident are virtually no different than our recent Crane incident. The tragically different outcome is purely a matter of timing and nothing else.

Outriggers extended, but not set. Even with NO LOAD this crane tipped over. Outriggers must be fully extended and set whenever the crane is in use.

Unlicensed Crane Operator (Over 7 years experience, but not a certified crane operator.) Note: There is a current proposal in OSHA to license/certify all crane operators. Everyone working around or near, needs to be aware of what other work is in progress (If the crane had fallen in the opposite direction it would have hit workers at a neighboring company.)

Truck working near site had flammable/compressed gas (acetylene) bottle on board, valve was knocked off when crane fell --- luckily acetylene did not ignite.( Fire was put out by portable extinguishers.) Fatality --- Service Mechanic working at truck nearby was hit in the head when the crane fell -- died 10 minutes later.

Crane Operator, not injured when crane fell --- but injured when jumping from the overturned cab.

Took three other cranes to upright this crane several days later Jobsite shut down for two days while OSHA investigated this fatality."

07/29/01: Russia — Two repairmen electrocuted in Siberia
The full text was copied from the site and pasted below.

Gross violation of safety rules led to the death of two people in Zheleznogorsk, Eastern Siberia, reports the officer on duty at the Krasnoyarsk territorial emergency headquarters. The accident occurred on Thursday. A maintenance crew was fixing a ferro-concrete fence on the grounds of a local fire station when the crane brushed against a nearby 6,000-volt power line. As a result, the crane operator and the crew manager were electrocuted in an instant.

This is the 21th incident reported to this site this year, #8 for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work equipment near energized power lines.

07/28/01: Normal, Illnois — ISU crane arm collapses
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It is reported all three cranes are owned and operated by Big Hook Crane Service of Bloomington.

07/31/01 update: Damage from crane crash estimated at $300,000.00
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07/28/01: Culver, Indiana — Worker at library electrocuted
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This is the 20th incident reported to this site this year, #7 for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work equipment near energized power lines.

07/28/01: Clearwater, Kansas — Oilfield worker electrocuted | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

Two others suffer serious burns when their truck boom touches a power line west of Clearwater.

This is the 19th incident reported to this site this year, the sixth for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work boom trucks near energized power lines.

07/28/01: Australia — Crane accident tips bridge into more troubled waters | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

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07/23/01: Moscow, Russia — Crane Crash Kills 4

Four workers died Saturday when a 150-ton crane collapsed in the Urals region of Sverdlovsk, burying them underneath, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

A ministry spokesman said the four men were part of a team carrying out repairs on a railroad bridge when one of the bridge's pillars caved in, sending the crane crashing down.

07/20/01: Cambodia — Falling crane part kills one
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The crane operator fled the scene.

07/19/01: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada — Two Workers killed
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Two local iron workers are dead after a crane on which they were working at the construction site of a Northwest Territories diamond mine toppled over and crushed them.

07/23/01: Reportedly the machine was a Grove Manlift Boom Model AMZ131XT (aerial work platform).

07/17/01: Yorktown, Virginia — Norfolk man dies in accident at weapons station
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A Norfolk man, Gary McCracken, was crushed to death Monday at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station when a concrete block slipped from a crane.

07/17/01: Shanghai, China — Crashing crane kills 36 in Shanghai
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07/18/01: The most recent count stands at 36 people killed and several injured at a Shanghai shipbuilding yard on Tuesday when a 600-ton gantry crane crashed down on them, an executive at the yard said.

It is reported the crane's designer was among those killed.

Just a day before the accident, a ceremony had been held celebrating installation of the crane.

07/18/01: Loose steel rope blamed for Shanghai crane tragedy
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07/18/01: BBC News w/photos | Cache Copy |

07/18/01: Peoples Daily story and photo | Cache Copy |

07/17/01: BBC News story | Cache Copy |

07/15/01: Orondo, Washington — Worker suffers electrical shock at Mitchell Paving

A Clarkston man was in serious condition today in a Seattle hospital after he was shocked Tuesday at the Mitchell Asphalt and Paving Plant.

Clarence Akkerman was airlifted to the Seattle hospital after the 6:33 p.m. accident, said Douglas County Fire District 4 Chief Tom Steichen.

Akkerman was shocked when a crew of men moved a water tank with a crane boom truck, which touched a Chelan County PUD 150-kilovolt line, Steichen said.

Akkerman suffered burns over 11 percent of his body, including the bottoms of his feet, right hand and arm and his right side, said Susan Gregg-Hanson, a spokeswoman for Harborview.

This is the 18th incident reported to this site this year, the fifth for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work cranes near energized power lines.

07/14/01: New Westminster, Canada — Contractors building new homes in the 700 block of Colborne Street raised the boom too high while setting up a mobile crane and it contacted power lines. No injuries were reported.

See Photo and complete story (poor quality news print copy)

This is the 17th incident reported to this site this year, the fourth for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work cranes near energized power lines.

07/11/01: Kanata, Canada — Crane downs power lines
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This is the 16th incident reported to this site this year, the third for this month, in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work cranes near energized power lines.

07/10/01: Western Australia — Crane accident at Murrin Murrin Nickel plant approximately 3 months ago. No more details were sent.

See Photos (3)

07/10/01: Hong Kong — Crane boom breaks in attempt to remove plunged truck
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In summary: Efforts to remove the wreckage of a fully-loaded garbage truck from the roof of a Happy Valley building failed yesterday when the arm (boom) of the crane snapped. The 24-tonne truck, which had plunged 150 metres from Stubbs Road on to the roof of the two-storey building in Village Terrace on Sunday, remained on the roof for a second night as officials mapped out fresh plans to remove it.

07/06/01: Ottawa, Canada — Mishap mashes worker's fingers
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07/06/01: Blackstone, Massachusetts — Fall River man electrocuted | Cache Copy |

A 50-year-old construction worker is dead after being electrocuted while maneuvering high-voltage wires in a steel cherry picker bucket at the town's High Rocks sewer project Thursday, police said.

This is the 15th incident reported to this site this year in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work cranes, or backhoes near energized power lines.

Apparently, some of you are just not getting the message. This is the second power line related fatality within the first 5 days of this month.

Drastic measures are in order. Yell at em, scream, stomp your feet, clench your fist and pound on the desk, whatever it takes to get attention and awareness. This insanity has to STOP!

07/05/01: Lakeland, Florida — People injured when crane collapses on top of car
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Another source, Tampa Bay Online, with more details
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The crane operator, Thomas Maxwell, 51, of 4923 Marc Drive, Tampa, was thrown from the cab when it struck a concrete barricade between the construction work and the road. Maxwell is an employee of Miller Construction Company of Tampa.

From The Online Ledger a local Lakeland news source.
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Editor comments: In regards to the following statement extracted from the above article.

"Trevor Taylor, a Miller Bros. worker who was near the crane when it snapped, said the accident occurred in seconds.

"Our cranes go through inspections every year," he said. "It was just a fluke accident."

What is a "fluke" accident? We have hundreds of crane related accidents listed on this site and not one of them was caused by some "fluke". Most were the direct result of human error — smart people doing dumb and sometimes stupid things.

As for the annual inspectons of cranes, I'm not saying that is the case with the above crane, but I know for a fact that inspection stickers are bought and stuck on cranes without an inspection right here in Florida. I can name names, cranes, places and dates.

--D. Peeks

07/03/01: Lincoln, Nebraska — Sorority painter killed in accident | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

James F. Reed, 48, 1724 N. 29th St., was killed Sunday when a work platform he was operating hit an electrical wire and he fell 25 feet, authorities said.

It is reported the work platform is a Elliott HiReach Aerial Platform Model E65 owned by Myron Gagner of Gagner Restoration (402-474-6557) of Lincoln, Nebraska.

This is the 14th incident reported to this site this year in which power lines were involved. Again, all were avoidable. Just don't work cranes, or backhoes near energized power lines.

07/01/01: Brunswick, Georgia — It is reported by one of our reliable sources that Maxim Crane Works sent a 65 ton P&H truck crane to a job in Brunswick, Georgia to work for Triple A Sign company.

Reportedly, Maxim didn't have any operators available so they put a 2nd year apprentice on it. Editor's note: After further investigation, I discovered this was not true. According to the person I talked with, the operator was recently NCCO certified.

Reportedly, but not verified, the 65ton P&H has a tricky locking system for the dead section of the boom and the operator didn't have it locked quite right. He made it through most of the day, but the section ran in on him with a manbasket and two men in it from about 10 feet in the air. The basket hit their truck and spilled them out, It is also reported that the two workers got away with some bumps and bruises.