08.12.2010

Man catapulted from platform

One man died this morning after he was catapulted from the platform of a boom lift in Western Australia.

The two men were cleaning tanks at a Holcim Australia/Goldfields cement plant in Boulder, Western Australia this morning and were working at a height of around 20 metres.

Worksafe are on site and a spokesman said that the lift was moving across open ground when its wheels dipped into some sort of depression such as a sink hole or drain. This caused the catapult effect

The man who was thrown from the platform was 42 years old the other, who was wearing a harness was trapped in the platform in the unstable platform for some time, it reportedly took emergency crews almost two hours to rescue him.
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A photo sent from the scene this morning

We have been sent a photo from the site which indicates that the boom was a straight telescopic JLG with jib, owned by Statewide. One has to assume that the man thrown from the platform was either not wearing his harnesses or had not attached it via his lanyard to the platform. This fatality appears to have been avoidable.

Police and Worksafe are continuing to investigate the accident.