“It was reported a worker was working on a crane...."

 

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog has posted numerous incidents involving the maintenance of overhead cranes. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the hazards associated with this task:

A 27-year-old man has died following a workplace accident at a North American aluminum plant.

The aluminium company (name omitted) has confirmed that (worker’s name omitted) has died following an incident while doing maintenance at its (name of location omitted) plant.

“We are deeply saddened by (worker’s name) passing and extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends. He was a friend to many and a hard worker with a positive attitude who was always willing to help others,” said a statement from (aluminium) plant manager (name omitted).

Local Fire and Rescue says it was at the (aluminium) plant just after 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“Crews performed CPR and the individual was transported to hospital,” local Fire said.

The plant manager said the deceased worker was an employee at the aluminium company for three years before his death.

The plant manager says an investigation into the incident is underway. “We temporarily shut down operations at the plant and have engaged with counselors to provide support to our employees,” he said.

According to the pertinent government safety organization, their investigators were called in to the plant Thursday. “It was reported a worker was working on a crane when they were exposed to live, electrical parts,” a statement from the ministry said.

Two ministry inspectors and an engineer attended the scene. Two orders were issued and the investigation is ongoing, the ministry said. 

The Aluminium Plant Safety Blog offers our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers.

The information “a worker was working on a crane when they were exposed to live, electrical parts” resulted in the worker receiving a shock. Subsequent information is the worker received CPR but succumbed to his injuries.

Hopefully, the root cause investigation will be able to determine what occurred. We will update this post when further information is made available.

The Aluminium Times magazine had an article on crane safety a number of years ago. It can be downloaded here.

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