09.01.2020

Boom crush fatality

A man died yesterday in Dallas Texas, when he was pinned between a boom lift and a piece of equipment while moving equipment on a back road.

The man, 52, was travelling a pedestrian-controlled ditching machine down a side alley in the east of the city, at the same time a telescopic boom lift was travelling down the alley. The boom lift ran into the man, crushing him between the ditcher and the boom's counterweight.

The boom lift operator was travelling the machine with the boom fully stowed and was therefore unable to see the ditcher or its operator. The injured man was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries.

The local Police are investigating the incident.

Vertikal Comment

You might ask why the platform operator was not driving with the boom slightly elevated. From information we have received we understand that the boom lift was not equipped with a jib, which can often be elevated when the boom is stowed without reducing the travel speed. Back alleys like this one are also usually full of overhead power cables so perhaps he was purposely keeping everything low?

In any case, a spotter ought to have been walking ahead given the operator had limited visibility.

Yesterday would have been a sad day for two families.