30.06.2021

Fatal boom lift incident

A man died early on Sunday morning while his co-worker sustained serious injuries after they were thrown out of a boom lift. They were working at an office building in Lisle, part of the metropolitan Chicago area, in Illinois.

The two men, one 60 and other 43, were using the Genie telescopic - possibly a 60ft - to clean windows from the upper floor of the car park. They were working at a height of around five to six metres when the rear wheels broke through the concrete floor catapulting them both out of the platform. We do know whether they were wearing harnesses and lanyards at the time but because of what happened, assume not.
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They were rushed to hospital where the older man died on arrival, while his younger colleague remains in intensive care. OSHA is investigating.

Tragically the boom lift did not overturn as is often the case in such incidents, so if only they had been harnessed in with a short lanyard, they would both be with their families and friends now.