06.09.2006

Another avoidable death

A truck mounted aerial lift working on the façade of the Nord LB bank building in Hanover was struck earlier this week by a delivery truck. Two window cleaners were working from the platform’s basket at around 20 metres high.

The impact caused the platform to tilt towards the façade hitting and breaking a street lamp in the process; the basket rebounded catapulting one of the men to the ground. The man, a father of 49 appears to have died on impact. His 24 year old colleague managed to grab hold of the guardrail and remain in the platform. He was rescued by the fire department.
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The platform remains upright and intact, yet its operator died

The rescued man was later treated in hospital for shock as was a man in the building where the platform hit and the truck driver. A car traveling behind the truck was hit by falling glass from the façade.

The police opened an investigation regarding involuntary manslaughter.

The platform was an sigma style truck mounted telescopic boom, mounted on a 7.5 tonne GVW chassis.

Vertikal Comment

It is distressing to see yet another accident with platforms, we have had a bad run lately, yet……while reading this site lately it might look as though platforms are dropping like flies, we must put it into perspective. With several hundred thousand lifts working every day around the world, the number of accidents are very very low, and aerial lifts are possibly one of the few methods of transport (transport from ground to work) that is safer than commercial air travel.

The other point to make is that in this case it appears that both men could have survived without injury, if they had only worn a harness as recommended. If they had been on a ladder when hit, their chances would have been zero.

download IPAF guidance H1/05/05 on use of harnesses in platforms