28.11.2011

Two injured in scissor lift incident

Two men were airlifted to hospital yesterday after their scissor lift suffered a structural failure on a construction job at the Storrs Center in Mansfield, Connecticut.

It seems that a centre pin or pins in one of the lower scissor stacks failed, causing the platform to tip over longitudinally.

The men are reported to have fallen around seven metres and their condition is said to be critical. They are believed to be employees of Empire Construction Special Projects a subcontractor on the job which is managed by general contractor Erland Construction.

The scissor lift, a Skyjack compact Rough Terrain belonging to NES, is one of several aerial lifts on the job site and was being used to install insulation panels on an external wall.
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The scene shortly after the incident occurred

A spokesman for the main contractor said: “It appears as though the scissor mechanism separated from its base, and caused the entire apparatus to pitch to the right and the men fell off”.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident.

Vertikal Comment

A structural failure such as this is exceptionally rare, there are a number of potential causes, including overloading – possibly some time in the past which can cause premature fatigue. However it is pointless and unhelpful to speculate in this case without more information. Hopefully the investigation will quickly discover a reason which can then be relayed to the industry as a whole.