"Falling aluminum rods have hit a worker on the head...."

 

The movement of material by overhead crane is hazard many workers fail to acknowledge. That occurs because in many ways they are so comfortable using it that they forget how dangerous overhead cranes can be. Here is a recent incident highlighting the hazard of overhead cranes.

After a terrible work accident last week in Europe, the injured man died in the hospital. The 48-year-old wanted to use a remote control to operate a heavy-duty crane with aluminium rods hanging from it.

Aluminium rods weighing several tons

Falling aluminum rods have hit a worker on the head and fatally injured. As the police announced on Monday, the 48-Year-old died on Friday from the consequences of the work accident. The man had operated last Monday by radio a crane in a company hall in (location omitted), when its load came loose. Aluminum rods weighing tons had hit him in the head.

Third-party participation excluded

The man had been taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. The police rule out the involvement of an outsider. At first, however, it is still unclear whether the accident occurred due to a technical malfunction or human error.

The first news media on the incident talked about how the worker survived the incident. We prayed that the injured worker would recover. Sadly, we learned in the above news article that he succumbed to his injuries. As horrific this incident is. How senseless this death is. There is, there has to be something that can be learned from this tragedy. We pray that every workplace with overhead cranes uses this incident as a learning tool. Do you workers get under the load while it is being lifted or while it is being transported. We had one plant ask us to visit their casthouse and teach their workers about the dangers under the hook. Why? Because the casthouse had a 20 ton rolling slab come off and fall. Thankfully, no one was injured. But, the department safety manager was concerned and contacted us to talk. In preparing we looked back upon past incidents on the blog. We were sadden to find out how many incidents of workers being injured or killed under the a load. We will use this incident as a learning tool the next time we speak.

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