20.03.2014

Fatal man basket fall

A linesman fell to his death from a suspended man basket outside Terrace, British Columbia, Canada on Saturday while working on the Northwest Transmission Line (NTL) project.

Details on the incident are sparse but local reports suggest that two men, of Edmonton-based subcontractor McGregor Construction, were working on a transmission tower from a man basket suspended from a 22 tonne crane at a height of approximately 25 metres. Following a problem with communication the two men were signalling to be bought down when the basket struck the boom throwing one of the men to the ground. It is not known whether either man was wearing a harness and lanyard.

WorksafeBC is currently investing the incident with its investigators checking the crane, the man basket, fall protection equipment, processes and procedures, and any human factors.

WorkSafeBC spokesperson Ally Skinner-Reynolds said: “It looks like there was a 22 tonne mobile crane with two workers in a man bucket suspended from the crane about 85 feet above the ground. They were putting conductors in place on the tower and there seems to have been a problem with communication. It looks like they were signaling to bring them down. The boom shock and the man bucket swung around and hit the boom. When it hit, the worker was thrown to the ground.”
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The two men were working on a transmission tower along the Northwest Transmission Line when the incident occured

The Northwest Transmission Line is a 213 mile high voltage power line between Skeena substation (near Terrace) and Bob Quinn Lake. The project also includes new access roads, an upgrade to the existing Skeena substation and construction of a new substation in Bob Quinn.