20.11.2014

Mast boom incident

A mast boom was reported to have overturned in a supermarket car park in the UK yesterday injuring a man. The true cause looks to have been unrelated to the machine itself, and more related to the way it was being lifted.

The incident occurred in the Enfield district of Redditch, Worcestershire, in the car park of a supermarket that is closed for refurbishment.

Details are minimal, all we know for certain, is that the lift was stowed and ended up on its back. It looks as though the machine was being carried by a telehandler at the time and it fell off the forks- rather than having overturned.
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The scene yesterday

The air ambulance was called and the injured man was taken away with a suspected broken leg and pelvic injury, we will update this item when we discover more details.

UPDATE December 2015

The case went to trial in late 2015:
Base Build Services of Abbey Road, London was fined £10,000 plus costs of £1,647.92 after the man, 31, was injured when the mast boom fell on him from the forks of the telehandler. The injuries included a broken leg and facial injuries.

The mast boom had been left in their area of work and needed to be moved to enable work to continue, so the site’s compact telehandler was called in to move it.

The investigation found that Base Build was aware in advance that the mast boom would need to be moved, before work could continue, but no plan or instructions for its removal were provided. In addition, the lead labourer was standing by the telescopic handler as the lift took place but failed to stop the lifting operation, even though it was clearly unsafe.

It was also discovered that the telescopic handler was overloaded and that the JLG Toucan mast boom was not lifted in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Base Build Services pleaded guilty to breaching CDM regulations.