We at Cranes101 know from experience that many job-site accidents are the result of a lack of training and equipment failure. Don’t let that happen to you and your employees. Sign up for training or schedule your next inspection. But first, read on for the March 2023 accidents.
Worker dies after plunging into water in Key Largo construction accident, sheriff says
This article was originally published on March 21, 2023 on local10.com, written by Janine Stanwood. More pictures and a video can be seen at the original site.
KEY LARGO, Fla. – A worker died in a construction accident after going into the water when a crane on a barge tipped over in Key Largo Tuesday afternoon, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said.
The crane was on a barge in the water behind a home under construction on Mutiny Place.
The crane apparently fell off the barge with the worker still on it, sending him plunging into the water, sources said.
The worker has been identified as 29-year-old Jose Eduardo Reyes Ponce, of Homestead.
Ramsay said the workers had been constructing a dock.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office divers responded to the incident to recover the man’s body.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as well as Key Largo firefighters were also at the scene.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident, Ramsay said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct its own investigation, he said.
Another shocking incident
This article is reprinted from Vertikal.net, published on March 10, 2023.
A man was seriously injured on Wednesday in Richmond, Virginia, when his boom lift came into contact with overhead power lines.
The man was working from the platform of a telescopic JLG boom lift from the Sunbelt Rentals fleet, and had tried to squeeze the platform between the power lines and the building he was working on. He was much too close however, and high voltage arced through the platform to earth setting the tyres alight as it did.
Around 400 local residents lost power for a while, while the man survived the shock, but is now struggling for his life in hospital. He is very lucky indeed to be alive and not electrocuted. OSHA has, we understand taken over the investigation into what happened.
Crane Tips Over at Chelsea Construction Site, Narrowly Missing Apartment Buildings
This article is reprinted from NBC Boston, originally published on March 21, 2023. The original link also has a video on the incident.
A large crane toppled over in Chelsea, Massachusetts, on Tuesday morning, narrowly missing multiple apartment buildings nearby.
The crane fell over on Sixth Street at a construction site at around 7 a.m. Aerial footage showed the crane completely on its side, resting on the metal beams of the structure under construction.
There are several housing units near the construction site, and luckily, none of them were hit by the toppling piece of equipment.
“The boom of the crane missed the back of the house by probably about 10 feet,” Deputy Fire Chief Michael Masucci said.
Elfego Herrera said he was asleep when he heard a loud boom, but thought it was just the normal sound of the construction next to his bedroom window.
“When I arrived on scene, I saw people looking out the back windows, so I evacuated the house for safety measures obviously,” said Deputy Chief Masucci.
Masucci said that amazingly, the operator inside the cab of the crane was able to get out on his own, and was physically uninjured, although visibly shaken.
“The piece of steel that he was trying to lower was about 30 feet long, big I-beam, the boom just missed the house,” said Masucci. “We would have had people trapped in the house. The alternative we don’t even want to think about.”
OSHA remained on scene, working to determine exactly how this crane collapsed.
If you see an accident report you’d like us to feature in the blog, like the ones shown here in the March 2023 Accidents Reports, let us know. Contact [email protected] with the information.