02.06.2011

Transpower accident New Zealand

A fatal accident has occurred this morning at the Transpower site at Oteranga Bay, On Wellington’s South coast.

At this stage the facts are unclear, all we do know is that two men were working from a platform around 10 metres up when the lift ran away and/or overturned. The men were properly harnessed and tied in, but the overturning caused fatal injuries to one man, while the other has been airlifted to hospital.

While it is unclear what type of lift these men were using, the majority of reports we have received indicate that it was a telehandler with platform that was operating on sloping ground. Although one source thought it was a four wheel drive utility vehicle.

The men were employed by Electrix, an electrical services company and were replacing a transmission line at the large wind power site.
There were apparently a good number of first hand witnesses so the detail of what happened should soon become clear, allowing lessons to be learnt.

UPDATE

We can confirm now that the men were using a Manitou telescopic handler - the initial information we provided looks as if it was as close to what happened as it is possible to determine at this time. Please register to see all images

The overturned machine