29.10.2010
Fatal scissor accident at Notre Dame
A 20 year old man died after the scissor lift he was using blew over while filming football practice at Notre Dame University in Indiana, USA on Wednesday.
Declan Sullivan's death was videotaping the play in winds of 53 mph and had expressed concern about being up in the lift during the strong wind which had earlier sent practice indoors.
A gust finally took his machine over and he died later form the injuries he sustained.
More on this tragic case and the lessons that might be learnt later, when we have more details.
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The fallen scissor lift
Just a note in passing concerning weather the day of the lift accident at Notre Dame. Our site is about seventy miles east of South Bend, Indiana.
Generally speaking we get similar weather. The weather that day was not only forecast to be windy, but the strongest low pressure system over the Great Lakes since 1940. Winds had been excessive throughout the Midwestern U. S. for two days.
We had the cranes boomed down at our facility. Wind damage to trees and power lines were reported regularly in the news media.
This accident, it seems to me, is a possible testament to the cavalier attitude toward powered lift use in the U.S.. I believe if that student had been AWPT trained, and allowed to act on his training, this scenario might have played out differently.
Please keep up your promotion of powered lift and crane operator certification!