Safety

A reader from the USA has sent us an example of what some riggers will get up to when the right equipment is not to hand. We don’t have the full details of where this happened, probably for good reason thought, on a large site two riggers were connecting up what looks like some kind of pile puller and other heavy attachments and having no purpose, made a sling, they decided to use a length of old cable in multiple wraps with the ends clamped.

The UK Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA) has warned that employers must periodically examine lifting equipment. The announcement comes following two accidents, one of which was fatal. It should encourage revised training and equipment testing practices for manual hoists and slings.

Following a complaint, RCMP are looking for Paddy Gene Doherty, a man who is alleged to have conducted inspection of machinery at about 27 businesses throughout the Kootenies. Doherty faces 49 charges of fraud and uttering a forged document.

This story is about looking at your crane daily. Just because a building is built up around you, doesn’t mean that things can’t go wrong with the crane below. Don’t be lazy, look at the whole thing. A Liebherr 420 in Hawaii, just a few years ago, had an entire pin set (pin and sleeve) back out of it’s hole at the base of the crane.

In this issue of the Professional Rigger, let’s evaluate an accident. Read the case study to the right and identify the improper practices based on the list given. Answers provided…

Any time 2-hook pick is made, the crew needs to determine the weight carried by each hook, based on the center-of-gravity (CG) of the load. Review the schematic below and…

WorkSafeBC of Canada has halved one fine and cancelled another from a fatal crane accident in Vancouver in 2008. Andrew Slobodian, 22, was crushed in his cab, when the pick & carry crane he was operating flipped over on the North Arm Bridge in Vancouver.

“Eagle West really stepped up to the plate. I called the morning I needed a crane to pull out a car that had driven into an excavation on a major construction site. When I called, they knew exactly what to do and did everything I asked – they didn’t have to – but they did and they did it fast!”

Leo Pascuzzi, Site Superintendant
Trafalgar Enterprises

A sincere “Thank You” to our steadfast readers and supporters, who over the years have been entertained by the Professional Rigger. We thought that a fun way to kick off…

A military Rough Terrain crane overturned after it slipped off of its trailer in a trading estate in Harmon, Guam today and was not involved in any lifting accident. The crane is owned by the US Air Force’s Red Horse squadron and was apparently in the area for routine maintenance.