16.05.2006

Another death

A JLG 800AJ inexplicably tipped over backwards last week at the racecourse in Cavaillon, near Avignon in southern France last week, catapulting two men from its cage.

45 year old Laurent Renaud died in the arms of his 17 year old daughter a short while after falling, while his colleague 29 year old Alexandre Adamantiadis is in hospital with serious internal injuries.

The two men were working at a height of around 12 metres, with the telescopic riser fully retracted and stowed, while the main boom was only partially extended but almost fully raised, the worst position in terms of rearward stability.

The machine does not appear to have suffered any structural failure, nor do the wheels appear to have sunk into any holes. (Although the photographs that we have seen are not very clear)

There was some local suspicion that the overload device might have been overridden, but in this case extra weight in the platform would have improved stability.

The boom came to rest against the branches of the trees on which the two men were working. Had they been wearing a harness with short lanyard, the two would most likely have only suffered minor bruising, they would certainly have lived.

Renaud, leaves a wife, two daughters and a son.

Vertikal Comment
When oh when will the bureaucrats that misguidedly banned gull wing platform gates and are now fretting over drop bar gates on aerial lifts, look towards real accidents and real risks and insist that the wearing of a harness and short lanyard be made mandatory when using a boom lift?