22.02.2011

Off the back of a truck

A military Rough Terrain crane overturned after it slipped off of its trailer in a trading estate in Harmon, Guam today and was not involved in any lifting accident.

The crane is owned by the US Air Force's Red Horse squadron and was apparently in the area for routine maintenance. It seems that the crane’s wheels were in a crab formation when the operator went to unload and it came off of the side the low loader.
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The crane lying on its side

We understand that the operator, Jonathan Kidwell, was taken to hospital with some minor injuries, including a head wound that required six stitches.

Vertikal Comment

The unloading of equipment from trailers can be one of the most dangerous of manoeuvres. As a regular daily occurrence familiarity can easily lead to contempt and yet so much can go wrong with this simple job from slipping off the side of a trailer or being catapulted from the platform of a boom lift or slipping off the side of wet ramps or running away due to brake failure.

It is an area that probably needs more focus when it comes to training as it is also a task that is often carried out by people who have not been trained to operate the machine itself but given that they can drive feel that they are OK to drive a machine off of a trailer.