20.01.2016

Fatal fall from boom

Two experienced line workers, Mdunyiswa Vivian Shozi,45, and Thembinkosi Gerald Sithole, 62 fell to their deaths in South Africa on Sunday while working from a platform.

We have very few details, but the men — both seasoned line erectors for the municipality - were working for Msunduzi Municipality in Pietermaritzburg when the machine was said to have suffered a “mechanical failure”, we understand that the machine was relatively new, but according to a local witness it had maximum capacity of 120kg and yet was occupied by two men and their equipment.

Neither were wearing any safety equipment – neither harness, lanyard of hard hats, the two survived the immediate fall, and were rushed to hospital where the died soon after arrival. They had been working to restore power, the failure of which was caused when a car crashed into a street light.