20.03.2013
Banksman shocked
A rigger/lift supervisor has been seriously injured in the UK today after the crane he was working with touched overhead power lines giving him a massive electric shock, leading to a cardiac arrest.
The incident occurred in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, where a Terex All Terrain crane owned and operated by Sparrow Crane Hire of Keynsham was working on a new building for the Trowbridge Rugby Club, the contractor is Ashcroft Homes.
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The crane was set up too close to the power lines
The crane was lifting steel beams which the man - Leigh Burge, 37 - was guiding into place. The crane was clearly too close to the overhead power lines and either touched them, or came close enough for the electricity to arc across to the boom and run to earth through the banksman.
Staff on site and local emergency services worked on restarting the man’s heart and were then aided by Wiltshire Air Ambulance which airlifted him to hospital. Where he is said to be in critical condition.
Vertikal Comment
It is puzzling to understand why these power lines were not taken into consideration, or at least not treated seriously enough. A basic risk assessment would surely have alerted everyone to either set the crane up well away from them, consider alternative lifting options, have the power shut down or set the crane to warn everyone if it do go too close?
The emergency services and those on site appear to have done an exceptional job once the damage was done, and hopefully the man will make a full recovery.
Old Sweat Old Sweat
Good to see the Lift Supervisor is recovering well but why he put himself in such a risky situation is hard to fathom given that he's very experienced in the industry.
Jonathan Mitchell
Good to hear from Sparrow Crane hire that the lift supervisor is making a good recovery, our best wishes are with Him and His family.
I understand that insulating links are mandated by Federal Law in the USA to protect ground crew in instances such as this. Should they be used in the UK?
Sparrow Crane Hire Ltd would like to make a statement as to the background to the incident that occurred at the Ashford Homes site in Trowbridge on Wednesday 20th March
• It was carried out under Contract Lift conditions
• A method statement and lift plan were produced
• The two employees were both experienced and CPCS card holders in their relevant roles
• For some yet unexplained reason they deviated from the method statement.
As the incident is now under investigation by the HSE there is nothing more to add to this.
Most importantly the lift supervisor is making a remarkable recovery and is improving all the time.
Jibupdrive
Unfortunately, as is often the case, the level of risk of something going wrong has probably been underestimated. This can be the case with wind, ground conditions, lifting persons and many many other situations.
BS 7121 states that the line operator should be informed if the crane is to be positioned any closer than maximum extended jib length + any protruding load + 9m to lines on poles (max jib length + protruding load + 15m to lines on pylons). The line operator would then want to know how you will ensure that you will not get within arcing distance of the lines if you are within the safe distance recommended in BS 7121.
As someone who deals with a wide range of people across the industry I can say that not everyone knows everything that they should know.
There's a good chance that this is a combination of lack of training, failure to carry out a suitable & sufficient risk assessment and pressure to get the job done.
Sadly, it usually takes a serious incident to provoke a change in the culture of an organisation or industry.
ghost
Regardless of any method statement, the crane op should not have even put an outrigger mat down, let alone set up if he had seen the power line!! Basic stuff! If my memory serves me correctly, the distance is and I quote "for wooden poles, 9m plus the collapsible boom length" ie, whatever the boom length, if it goes over, there should be 9m safety distance, as stated by other posters here.
dealer205
should never have happened, once again the worker is the poor casualty, no doubt he will be replaced fairly quickly!!
Tmayes
All involved need to be named and shamed, this is basic child's play stuff that any idiot in this game should know not to set up that close to power lines, how are we ment to keep our heads high and take the mick out of the Americans if we got idiots like this in the game?? Hope the slinger makes a full recovery.
davethecrane davethecrane
I stand corrected. Wooden pylons, safety distance is maximum boom length plus 9m. Again, we ALL KNOW THIS. Why did the personnel on site not? Operator? Slinger/Banksman? AP? Site Agent? It beggars belief. Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured guy.
davethecrane davethecrane
I stand corrected. Wooden pylons, safety distance is maximum boom length plus 9m. Again, we ALL KNOW THIS. Why did the personnel on site not? Operator? Slinger/Banksman? AP? Site Agent? It beggars belief. Again, best wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured guy.
davethecrane davethecrane
Live power lines on steel pylons? We ALL know, maximum boom length plus 15m is the safety distance. WE ALL KNOW THIS. ALL OF US. TOTALLY AVOIDABLE. SHOULD NEVER, EVER HAVE HAPPENED. I hope the guy is ok. Not good.