Crane boom collapses; no injuries reported

CASPER Wyoming— A crane boom collapsed near the intersection of East Second and McKinley streets on Monday afternoon.

No injuries and no extensive property damage were reported, said Lee Watts, safety manager for Energy Transportation Inc.

A small utility shed located behind a business was destroyed in the crane’s fall, however.

The accident occurred at about 3 p.m. Monday as workers were attempting to pin the 350-ton crane’s boom after the move of a structure near the intersection.

Late Monday, workers with the company were still working to secure the boom.

Manitowoc Crane investigating fatal accident

Pennsylvania

Manitowoc Crane Group is investigating the cause of a Jan. 4 accident that led to the death of a Chambersburg, Pa., man, a company official said Tuesday.

Jeffrey Cowan, 41, died Sunday from injuries sustained in a fall at Manitowoc Crane Group in Shady Grove.

The company is unclear what caused the accident, said Dennis Rooney, vice president of human resources for the Americas division of Manitowoc Cranes.

Cowan was working on the deck of a crane in the final assembly area when he fell, Rooney said. He died less than a week later.

“It is upsetting what happened to Jeffrey,” Rooney said. “He was a great man. Our hearts go out to his family.”

Because the incident resulted in a fatality, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration has visited the manufacturing facility on Pa. 16 east of Greencastle, Pa., Rooney said.

The Shady Grove plant, formally Grove Worldwide, was purchased by Manitowoc in 2002, and produces small and large cranes.

The plant is one of Franklin County’s largest employers.

Rooney said Cowan worked in the final assembly area and had worked at the plant for a little less than five years.

Before coming to Manitowoc, Cowan served in the U.S. Marine Corps and was a veteran of Operation Desert Storm, according to his obituary.

Two Workers Killed in Crane Accident Kotka, Finland

Yesterday 06:19 PM, updated today 11:09 AM

Two men died when this basket crane collapsed.

Two people were killed on Tuesday when they fell from a basket crane in downtown Kotka. The men were cleaning a building’s gutters when the sidewalk under one of the basket crane’s supporting legs collapsed.

Rescue services who responded to the accident say the men fell from the second or third storey. Other workers on site were able to move away in time from the crane.

The fire marshal on duty, Ahti Savolainen, says that the supporting leg appears to have been standing over a hollow pocket under the sidewalk. The leg dropped one and a half metres through the sidewalk. The street was closed to traffic for several hours.

Man dies in Houston crane accident

A crane collapse in Houston has killed a 41-year-old man.

Police say the accident happened at a printing company.

Police say Cesar Barrios Gomez of Houston was dead at the scene.

Authorities say Gomez had been trying to maneuver the crane to another location when the base failed and the crane topped. The victim was pinned beneath the equipment Monday night.

Police told the Houston Chronicle that the crane had a maximum capacity of 1 ton and that Gomez allegedly overloaded it.

Falling Crane Cuts House in Half

Nov 20th 2009

You know when you return from, like, Pizza Hut and a crane has split your house in two?

No? Michelle and Kevin McCarthy do. They returned to their house in Santa Rosa, California to see this.

The 90ft lifting machine had been trying to move a 150-year-old oak tree, but it was too heavy and the crane toppled backwards. Kevin said: "I think we’re just in shock right now."

One neighbour who saw the crane crash into the house said it seemed to happen in "slow motion". The hoist’s owner insisted the smash in Santa Rosa, California, was a freak accident. Check out a big image after the jump.

Man critical after industrial accident in Australia

Man critical after industrial accident at Pennant Hills

19 Nov 09 @ 01:18pm

A man is in a critical but stable condition following a major accident on a construction site in Pennant Hills.

The accident accourred just after 9am on Wednesday.

The man sustained fractures to his right leg and ankle, lacerations to the head and serious internal injuries.

It is believed that the man was helping a crane driver on the site when the extendable flyer arm of the crane boom malfunctioned and struck him.

The injured man was rushed to Westmead Hospital where he underwent surgery before he was placed in a serious but stable condition.

The crane operator was also injured but only suffered bruising and swelling.

Details of the accident are still unclear but are being investigated by Police and WorkCover.

1 dead in Kansas City, Mo., crane accident

Nov 10, 2009

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site of a Kansas City, Mo., performing arts center, police said.

The two men were in the bucket of the 100-foot-tall JLG Lift when it fell away from the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and landed across a platform of steel beams at about 1:40 p.m., officials said.

One of the men was pronounced dead at a hospital, said police spokesman Darin Snapp. The other was listed in serious but stable condition and was able to talk. Snapp said both men were in their 30s, but their identities were not immediately released.

Kansas City Missouri police officers look at a portable boom lift that fell at the construction site of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009, in Kansas City, Mo. One worker was killed and another injured Tuesday when a crane tipped over at the construction site, police said.

The men were installing steel panels on the building for Detroit-based subcontractor Midwest Steel, said Kyle McQuiston, spokesman for Kansas City-based general contractor JE Dunn Construction Group.

Construction on the 13-acre site began in 2006 and is scheduled to be finished in 2011. The $400 million center will be the home of the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and the Kansas City Ballet.

McQuiston said the construction site had no previous fatalities or injuries.

Workers were sent home for the day while investigators examined the site, said JE Dunn president Dan Euston.

"We have an onsite safety team down there and are working with investigators, both local and any federal agencies, to determine what caused this accident," Euston said. "We’re very deeply saddened by this event. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families."

Crane accidents kill up to 82 construction workers each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Occupational Health and Safety Administration. A crane at the construction site of a new federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, also collapsed Tuesday, but police say no one was hurt.

A construction worker died last month after falling from a lift that toppled over and struck a downtown Philadelphia apartment building.

And two New York City crane collapses in 2 1/2 months during the spring of 2008 left nine people dead. Investigators have blamed faulty rigging of an 11,000-pound crane part in the first of those accidents, which killed seven people on March 15, 2008.

Walter Clough

The story of Walter Clough is not a rare one for many students that attended one of NAHETS member schools. Walter graduated from the Oklahoma College of Construction and is working for APAC in Missouri making 35/hr. He is an operator, but also doing site plans and other duties. This isn’t Walter’s first HEO job since graduation, but it’s his first full time job. 35.00/hr is very impressive for anyone, however for Walter it’s…. well…you gotta know Walter. I asked him his secret to landing this job (Apac was one of his job leads in his original packet) almost a month ago. He walked onto the jobsite, filled out an application and was hired on the spot!!! That’s it! We always encourage our graduates to not be afraid to walk on a job site and speak with a foreman/site supervisor. These guys usually know what their immediate needs are before the corporate office does. Anyway, Walter has been encouraged to do this for quite some time….he finally did it and it’s finally paying off. Congratulations to Walter!

Oklahoma College of Construction Recieves Award

Suzanne just returned from agency conference in Missouri and the Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation recognized the Oklahoma College of Construction for the third year in a row for our outstanding contribution to their customers. Our customer assistance is something we value greatly here in Oklahoma. Many other schools were nominated for this award, but we were the only one to recieve it.

New Crane Operator Regulations in the Works

For the first time since 1971 the federal government is updating crane regulations. Triggered by various lethal crane accidents around the country this past year, the U.S. Department of Labor is set to release drafts of the new regulations, which focus mainly on crane operator standards.

New Standards

The new regulations will require crane operators to pass both written and practical tests in all 50 states and complete more training. Currently only 15 states and 6 cities require tests. Crane operators will have various options to become certified/qualified under the new rules:

• Certification through accredited third-party testing organizations
• Qualification through audited employer testing programs
• U.S. military-issued qualification
• Qualification by state/local licensing authorities

In addition to the certification and training of crane operators the new rules also hone in on inspecting ground conditions, crane assembly and disassembly, operating near power lines, and the use of safety devices and crane inspections.

It is expected that the final approval of all of the regulations will “likely take more than a year.”

Sources:

(1) Devlin, Barrett. The Associated Press. September 18, 2008.

NAHETS Crane Operator Training & Certification

Member schools of the National Association of Heavy Equipment Training Schools (NAHETS) across the country offer mobile crane operator training and certification programs. Each of the member schools are authorized to administer the NCCCO Mobile Crane Certification tests. They also offer training from instructors, all holding NCCCO Mobile Crane Operator Certifications, to prepare for the tests. Visit the NAHETS Crane Site for more information.