19.11.2014
Fatal fall for crane operator
A crane operator died after suffering a heart attack as he climbed a tower crane in Sydney, Australia, earlier today.
The man, Martin Hall, 66, who was standing in for a colleague, was climbing down from the cab of the luffing jib tower crane when he is said to have suffered a coronary arrest, causing him to lose his grip and fall around 10 metres to the ground.
The incident occurred at a Leighton's building site on the Pacific Highway in North Sydney. He was declared dead at the scene.
WorkCover is investigating
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The man fell from this crane
Here's a thing - there's a lovely video on You Tube of towercranes in Holland - all have a GEDA lift on them - but only about 3/4 of the height of the tower - but the drivers come and go to suit their needs - no 'designer bottles of Tizer' at the end of the day.... wouldn't it be great if these were fitted to our UK tower cranes...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm56oLYKyaY
Its just a lovely video -and their on site catering truck looks a lot better than our UK ones too !
Michael Brown
Sad reading indeed. There are many reasons for heart attacks, age is obviously 1 of those but for the UK what I see more often than not is the trend for obese operators who somehow are granted medical certification. The practice of operators staying up the crane for breaks is also an area which needs addressing. A healthy employee is a safe employee.