Fatal Accident Circumstances and Epidemiology (FACE) Report: Maintenance Supervisor Dies After the Personnel Platform He Was Working from Falls to the Ground, Virginia, December 6, 1992

摘要

The case of a 57 year old maintenance worker who was injured (and subsequently died) when the personnel platform he was working from fell to the ground was described. On the day of the accident he was working with two coworkers at a closed facility to replace four 1/4 inch wire ropes which controlled the operation of the overhead crane door. The wire ropes were attached to the door at about 22 feet above the ground. The platform was suspended 22 feet in the air by an industrial crane and the victim was on the platform. The crane did not have an anti two block device and the operator of the crane was not experienced. Two of the four wire ropes had been successfully replaced. The victim signaled the crane operator to extend the boom toward the area where the third wire rope was to be attached. As the boom was extended, the block contacted the boom tip, and caused the wire rope to break. The platform, victim, and load handling device fell. The victim died 11 days later from pulmonary emboli secondary to lower extremity fracture. It is recommended that anti two blocking devices be installed on crane load lines, that the use of alternative methods to perform work at heights be considered, and that only competent trained personnel operate cranes.