08.03.2016

Crane operator fined

A mobile crane operator in Germany has been fined for overriding the LMI on his crane causing it to overturn and for being intoxicated.

The man, 47, appeared before the district court of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria accused of negligence while carrying out a construction related task. The crane operator was lifting a set of glazed patio doors, weighing around 1,400kg into the back yard of a house in Puchheim near Munich on June 22nd. The six section boom on the four axle 80 tonne Tadano All Terrain crane was fully extended and lowered below 45 degrees, where the total capacity is no more than 700kg given the partial counterweight installed.

In order to complete the lift he decided to override the Load Moment Indicator and as a result it eventually overturned onto the garage of the house, causing over €200,000 of damage. Photos from the incident show a retracted rear load-facing outrigger beam, but this appears to have retracted after the crane tipped, when the extension cylinder pushed out the back of the box, ripping hoses and causing a further leak down.
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The 80 tonne crane was more than 100 percent overloaded

The operator was initially issued with a €4,500 penalty notice, but decided to defend himself in court by claiming that the prosecution was unable to rule out a technical failure as the cause. In court he changed his plea to guilty to the charge or overriding the safe load indicator, but in exchange asked for a lower fine to be considered. He was also accused of being intoxicated, with a test on site having found him to have a blood alcohol rate of 0.81 milligrammes.

After the incident he was immediately fired by the crane rental company Schindler, and risked losing his driving licence, given that he had collected the crane from the company’s depot some time before the incident and driven on the public highway.