"He would have been crushed by an overhead crane.."

 

A rhetorical question we ask plant management is “who is the most dangerous person at your workplace?” Our answer is the individual who is not there yet. It is the contractor, visitor, supplier, trucker, etc. It is this group of individuals who do not know a company’s safety culture and/or practices. We acknowledge that many workplaces require outsiders to either undergo training in the form of a classroom setting, read a flyer or watch a video. Whatever method of education needed for an outsider to enter a workplace is sometimes not enough. Here is a recent tragedy highlighting the hazard associated when outsiders enter an industrial workplace.

 

Another tragedy at work, again in (name omitted), a region already shaken by the (another) tragedy. Yesterday afternoon, Friday 15 September, a 60-year-old worker, name omitted, lost his life in a dramatic accident that occurred in a town in Southern Europe.

According to an initial reconstruction, the maintenance technician, employed by an external company, was on a platform while he was assembling a machine for the maintenance of the heating systems when, for reasons still to be clarified, he was crushed on an overhead crane track. Rescue efforts were useless: the 60-year-old died instantly.

The health workers, the firefighters of the (nearby) detachment, the carabinieri of the city company and the inspectors of the (pertinent government agency), who are responsible for investigating the incident, intervened on site: the dynamics of the accident are in fact still to be confirm.

We offer our sincere condolences to the deceased worker’s family, friends, and coworkers. The deceased worker was an outside contactor who was performing maintenance. During his tasks he came into contact with an overhead crane and was killed. We assume that the deceased was on the crane rail and the crane moved killing him. We have sadly reported on past incidents of similar nature of work being performed near a crane. The crane is not prevented from moving and is moved injuring and killing worker(s).

After every story we post. We pray. We pray that this tragedy, this horror will be used to make a workplace safer. If not, then this tragedy is made all the worse. So, if your workplace has an overhead crane. As many aluminium plants do. Print this blog post out and give to your safety department or plant management. Then ask, “can this happen here?” If the answer back is “no it can not happen here.” Followup with “why? What physical measures can be installed to prevent the crane from moving if a worker is performing a task nearby?”.

If those questions are asked and followed up. Then and only then can your workplace learn from this tragedy.

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