20.03.2014
A windy pallet
Spotted this week on a wind farm in Belgium a man on a pallet on a telehandler’s forks.
This Death Wish has to be one of the worst we have seen in some time, especially given that it occurred on a wind farm project, where after numerous safety failings in the past installers are supposed to have stepped up their safety procedures.
It seems that a cable from a secondary crane became trapped under the main slings on a turbine rotor blade so someone had to go up and free it.
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Kneeling on a pallet balanced on the forks of a telehandler
Clearly the team did not have a platform on site and so instead of organising something they did the old fork-truck and pallet trick. Drafting in a telehandler and then lifting a man on the pallet up to the trapped cable. He was simply kneeling on the pallet with nothing to stop him falling should he lose balance or the pallet slip.
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Almost got it
According to our correspondent the telehandler operator did not even bother to set the machine’s stabilisers.
In our readers own words:
“I visited a windmill site on Monday in Belgium and I've noticed the following incident. When the wings were raised into position, the rigging from the secondary crane didn't come loose the normal way. So, one of the crew was raised on a Dieci telescopic loader, sitting on a pallet with no safety harness whatsoever. The loader doesn't even have its stabilisers down..”
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Done it - free at last - but not safe
“When the straps came loose, the boom was lowered and the wings were lifted into position. I can understand that these lifts are very expensive and at high risk due to sudden wind, but I can't understand why they don't spend some extra money on a simple boom lift.”
A definite one for our Death Wish series.
lambsy
What a stupid thing to do,
the wind industry is one of the most picky trades to work in , re health and safety .
You try to take a crane on site without all the certs and inductions , and see how far you get?
Where was the crane supervisor / appointed person? No one should be above the law ,with regards to site rules , and no person on a site should be silent when they witness such madness,
very disappointed , as at least two crane drivers where present and dident intervene , if that chap had fallen to his death , how would his workmates feel then . Please lads ,speak up and look after your fellow workers , then we can all go home safe and sound to are families .