Do You Know What the Most Common Crane Accidents Are – And What Simple Steps Can Help Prevent Them from Happening on Your Job Site?
In a perfect world, there would be no accidents. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and accidents do happen. In the crane and rigging industry, there are four big areas of concern: electrical hazards, falling materials, overloaded equipment, and unauthorized personnel in the job site.
Bear in mind we work in New York – one of the busiest, most congested places to do construction and repair work. This factor alone compounds the likelihood of something going wrong. Obviously, nobody wants that to happen. The good news is that many job site accidents are preventable. Here’s what you need to know about each safety issue, and what you can do to prevent these things from happening on your job site:
Electrical Hazards
Nearly half of all accidents involving a crane or boom truck happen when the equipment comes into contact with power lines or another power source.
A vital part of the pre-pick work completed by the best crane and rigging companies in NY involves site inspection. Having a trained team member on the ground assessing the site prior to the lift means all electrical hazards can be identified, and a plan can be made to address them. This is why it’s important to choose a full-service crane and rigging company.
Choosing the standard crane rental company means doing all of the prep work yourself. In some situations, the power lines may need to be de-energized—a process that requires time and proper permissions. Our operators and personnel always function on the assumption that all power lines are live, and our on-site safety coordinator ensures all safety rules and regulations are followed.
Falling Materials
There are two reasons materials fall from cranes:
- There’s an equipment failure
- The load wasn’t properly secured in the first place.
The solution to the equipment failure issue is simple. Cranes and all other equipment used in a lift, including slings, hoists, cables and shackles, need to be inspected regularly. OSHA and DOB inspectors have the right to inspect all your equipment to ensure they are up to standard at any point in the project. If not, they can shut the job down and your project can get hit with a stop work order. You can read more about what happens with stop-work orders here.
Working with experienced professional riggers is another way to avoid safety issues having to do with falling materials. The rigging crew is responsible for securing the load. This is a complex task that requires significant expertise. Loads must be balanced properly and secured to be lifted safely in all types of conditions. L&M Crane and Rigging specializes in complex lifts. Our riggers use the industry’s best practices and years of hands on experience to ensure the equipment being lifted is properly rigged and placed exactly where it needs to go—significantly decreasing any risk.
Overloaded Equipment
There’s never, ever a reason for exceeding a crane’s operating capacity. However, year after year it continues to happen, and when it does, things can become unsafe very quickly. Catastrophic equipment failures happen when an operator attempts a lift that exceeds the crane’s capacity. The crane can also exceed its operating capacity if the operator drags the load, or if the load swings excessively during the lift.
The remedy for overloaded equipment is simple: don’t overload the equipment. That’s why every job completed by L&M Crane has a lift supervisor. Crane operator training is also critical. You want to work with experienced, licensed crane operators who know how to do the job properly and avoid going beyond the crane’s capacity.
Unauthorized Personnel on Site
Job sites are dangerous places – no matter how big or small your project can be. A significant portion of job site accidents happen when unauthorized personnel enter work zones. Here in New York, crane and rigging companies are required to have specific personnel in place to manage pedestrian traffic, maintain a safe work site, and keep people from wandering into harm’s way. One of the reasons it’s important to work with a local crane and rigging company is that they have experience managing New York pedestrian traffic effectively and efficiently – which can be a difficult task!
So, what’s the simplest way to ensure that the most common crane accidents do NOT occur on your job site? Choosing L&M Crane for your crane or rigging construction project. L&M Crane has decades of experience operating under strict safety standards and performing jobs safely and efficiently. Contact us today to get started!
