Crane Related Accidents
December 2000

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.                                      

12/30/00: Ogden, Utah — Crane crushes roof of tire shop | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | The crane operator had forgotten to put down one of the outriggers (stabilizers). Another avoidable accident, caused by operator error.

12/26/00: Singapore — Tower crane boom topples over, injuring two workers | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

12/25/00: Arkansas — Mourners remember selfless Marion man | Dead Link |  | Cache Copy | To date, we haven't found anything about the accident. What is within the text is all we have at this time.

12/23/00: Northern California — Power line accident #28 The operator stated that he looked up after hearing humming noises, saw that he had contacted high power lines and jumped from the control station. Yeah ... he is still alive to tell about it. No one was hurt. The only damage was to the crane. Editor's comments: With a utility pole next to the truck it should have been pretty obvious there were probably power lines attached to it. Look up and live! The local fire department was called but could do nothing until power was shut off. According to the crane operator it took the electric company about 20 - 30 minutes to shut off power. The crane remained there at first like it was just parked. After about 10 - 15 minutes the tires started smoking and then combusted into flames. The fire then engulfed the rest of the vehicle while the construction workers and fire department watched helplessly. The crane was recently certified. One of the things the owner had to do was put on a “Cal/OSHA approved” electrical warning decal in order to get his certification certificate. The incident occurred in Northern California. It was the first negative crane incident the company has experienced. See photo

This is the 4th post today, two with a fatality. 12/22/00: Harvey, LA — Gantry fell and killed a supervisor. A crew was preparing to walk a 3900 Manitowoc crane across a highway this week. The boom was lowered onto a flatbed trailer for transport assistance. The 35 year old supervisor was removing the pins to lower the gantry to allow passage under some power lines. When the last pin of the gantry was removed the gantry fell striking him in the head.

12/22/00: Jersey City, NJ — The operator backed the machine down an incline without first booming down to a safe boom angle. The boom collapsed over the back of the machine. See Exclusive photos (3)

12/22/00: Houston, Texas — Ship slams into Loop 610 bridge | Dead Link |  | Cache Copy | At least three people were injured Thursday night in a bizarre accident in which a crane on top of a ship apparently struck the underside of the Loop 610 Houston Ship Channel bridge at its highest point, about 135 feet above the water, police said. Anthony Kinshen of the Port of Houston Police Department said, "A crane boom on the ship Rickmers Tianjin, heading to its dock in the Ship Channel, poked a hole through the bridge." 12/23/00 update: Squeeze put on bridge traffic | Dead Link |  | Cache Copy | Cost to repair span may reach $1 million.

12/22/00: Bath, Maine — Construction accident at Bath Iron Works leaves one missing | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | BATH, Maine (AP) Divers contesting frigid temperatures searched unsuccessfully Thursday for the operator of a crane that toppled off a barge and into the Kennebec River at Bath Iron Works. 12/27/00 update: Search for crane operator resumes with salvage effort  | Cache Copy | The crane operator, 48-year-old Steven Oldham, of Felton, Del., has been missing since the crane fell from a barge Thursday afternoon near Bath Iron Works. Another worker, William Larkins, 43, of Epping, N.H., was rescued. 12/23/00 update: A dive team Friday reached the cabin | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/25/00 update: Family members cling to hope that crane operator survived dredging accident | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/27/00 update: Salvagers to go after sunken crane on Thursday | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/27/00 update: Crane Owner: Weeks Marine, Inc. 12/27/00 update: 'He was a hard-working guy' Co–worker grieves death of Oldham; crane to be lifted | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/29/00 update: Crane salvage runs into complications | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/30/00 update: Weather prolongs vigil of crane operator's wife | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 12/30/00 update: Long vigil ends for wife, family of crane victim | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | 06/04/01 update: OSHA proposes $360,000 in fines for Bath Iron Works crane accident | Cache Copy | The OSHA investigator said, "Securing a mobile crane to a barge is a basic, well-known safeguard that must be utilized on each and every job where it's required," said Freeman. "If the company had provided and ensured this vital and necessary protection, this accident could have been avoided. No job, no deadline, no excuse, is worth the loss of a human life." Editor comments: Mr. Freeman, I couldn't agree more. Shame on Weeks Marine and shame on the job-site supervision too. 12/02/01 update: Marine contractor involved in fatal accident contesting $360,000 OSHA fine | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | They all get a DUMMY AWARD 9/20/04: Judge sides with Reed & Reed in barge crash suit | Cache Copy | Maine had 32 work-related deaths in '99 | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

12/20/00: Just in... This accident happened in the Chicago area on December 12th. We just received word of it yesterday. We were told the operator picked up a load that was out of his load chart. See photo

12/19/00: Just in and we're looking for info. | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | Murray Crane Co. to Be Cited in Death | Dead Link | A Murray crane company likely will be cited in the December 7th death of a construction worker at the Rose Wagner Center in Salt Lake City. Another crane/power line incident. This is #27 recorded by this site for the year 2000. All were avoidable. Referenced in article: Interstate Erectors, Inc.

12/16/00: Los Angeles, California — Accident Leads To Power Loss | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | This is power line contact #26 recorded by this site for the year 2000. All were avoidable.

12/15/00: Singapore — Man killed by metal beam | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | The accident happened on July 19, but this is the first report of the incident we've come across. The numbers above (total deaths for 2000) include this accident, but it is not included with the numbers on the July Report page.

12/12/00: Derry, New Hampshire — Hooksett man, 41, killed when part of a crane falls on him A worker was killed yesterday morning when part of a crane he was helping set up over the roof at the Sanmina Corporation plant came crashing down, knocking him to the ground and landing on top of him. David Daigle, 41, of Hooksett, was taken to Parkland Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, according to police. He was an employee of American Crane Company of Hooksett. Daigle and two other workers were preparing to install an industrial ventilation fan. Man killed in crane accident was defendant in fatal 1996 crash. | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A | Heads up! Read and take heed! Crane accident investigation — Investigators are focusing on the latches that secure the jib in place. — Hopefully, we'll find out more and pass it along to you when the investigation is completed. American Crane Co., Inc.

12/09/00: — Thousand Oaks, California Mechanic Critically Injured in Accident at Housing Construction Site. | Cache Copy | A 44-year-old Ventura man was in extremely critical condition after a tractor engine suspended on a crane struck his head at a Westlake housing construction site Thursday afternoon. Samuel Brewer, a mechanic with Agoura-based Ebensteiner Inc., was working under a D-10 Caterpillar tractor at the site, near Bridgegate Street and Thornhill Avenue, said Joe Luna, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Tractor Mechanic Dies of Head Injuries | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

12/07/00: California Explosion Rocks Union City Factory — 12 Workers Hurt | Cache Copy | A powerful explosion rocked a Union City pipe factory yesterday, spewing scalding steam and molten iron that seriously burned four workers and injured eight others. The blast shook U.S. Pipe and Foundry Co. about 4:40 p.m., rattling windows and nerves citywide and shrouding the plant in a cloud of black dust. Witnesses said the accident occurred when a crane operator overfilled a giant ladle with molten iron, spilling some of the white-hot metal into a pit of standing water. 12/08/00: OSHA Investigation Started | Cache Copy | 12/22/00 update: Union City Pipe Caster Reopens | Dead Link | | Cache Copy N/A |

12/05/00: UK — Man Killed in Crane Collapse | Cache Copy | A man has died and another was injured after a crane collapsed at Sheffield United's Bramall Lane stadium. Police say the mobile crane fell to the ground, either as a result of a wheel giving way, or because of the ground beneath it collapsing.

12/05/00: Georgia — Another crane/power line contact | Dead Link | | Cache Copy | A crane on a barge struck a power line while backing up during road construction on Turners Creek Bridge east of Savannah, Georgia. The crane broke the wire with its spud, a steering and anchoring device. The equipment was operated by a crew from TIC — The Industrial Company This is power line contact #25 recorded by this site for the year 2000. All were avoidable.

12/01/00: New York — Worker Killed At Garbage Plant | Dead Link | | Cache Copy | A maintenance worker at the American Ref-Fuel garbage processing plant in Westbury, New York died of head injuries in an accident on the job yesterday. “He was doing some maintenance work at the plant when the accident took place,” said Lyle Hanna, communications director for the plant's Houston-based parent company. The spokesman declined to give further details on the accident, which he said happened at 11:30 a.m. He identified the worker as Ephraim S. Rodriguez, 50, of Shoreham, a maintenance man who had been employed at the plant since October, 1997. Rodri- guez, who had a wife and two children, was transported to Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow, where he was pronounced dead. Nassau police were investigating the accident. “Our first concern is for the family,” Hanna said. He said counseling and other assistance had been offered to Rodriguez' family and co-workers. According to Nassau police, Rodriguez, a maintenance worker, had been assigned to do periodic repairs on a crane track line. The crane runs on tracks about 100 feet above a pit of refuse to be incinerated, Nassau Homicide Det. Lt. Frank Guidice said. As the crane came back toward him on the track, it pinned Rodriguez against a support beam, crushing the back of his skull, Guidice said. He was thrust back from the beam onto the catwalk. Rodriguez' death was the first at any of the company's six plants, Hanna said. The company has worked with its employees and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure safety at its plants, Hanna said.