Safety

The fatal crane accident near Hobart, Tasmania earlier today was a road accident involving an articulated pick and carry crane.

The Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association (SC&RA) and Equipment Training Solutions, LLC (ETS) have rolled out a comprehensive Rigger Safety Training Course.

Imperial Crane in the USA has announced that it has achieved an Experience Modification Rate (EMR) of .75, a record low for the company. According to Imperial an EMR is informative and important because it represents the results of a company’s safety policy. A high or low EMR can affect opportunities for potential work, the company said.

Manual lubrication of wire ropes via the drip, brush, spatula or rubber glove method has always been a difficult and time consuming maintenance task. Typically messy asphaltic or “blackjack” type products are employed which have coating abilities but very little lubrication or penetration properties – the core of the rope is therefore not lubricated.

The Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA) now offers a free mobile app for instantly accessing all necessary crane hand signals. The new app is available in the iTunes App Store and Blackberry App World. Every signal included is compliant with the new OSHA Cranes and Derricks Standard, Appendix A to Subpart CC of Part 1926-Standard Hand Signals.

We have been sent a series of new photographs from the fatal accident which occured last Wednesday in Boulder, Western Australia, that show that the catapulting accident was different from that indicated by the first reports we received.

A mobile crane removing a concrete bridge girder goes over due to soils sluffing off down a hill. The soils are non-native and even though they used matting, you should have some sort of reinforcement to prevent the soils from moving when on a hill like this. (Click on picture to view video.)

The International Sign Association’s updated Mobile Crane Operator Safety Certification Training, which begins in January, will offer courses in more than 40 cities throughout 2011. In addition, each training course immediately will be followed by testing conducted by The National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO).

A 55 ton Rough Terrain crane tipped over at the Halifax shipyard in Nova Scotia, Canada earlier today. The 61 year-old operator suffered only minor bruising from the accident. He was though taken to Hospital as a precaution.

Two men working for a tree surgeon were injured yesterday when their lift went over in Dorset, UK. The two men, said to be in their 20s, were airlifted to hospital with serious leg injuries after their spider lift tipped over in the village of Milborne St Andrew.