07.12.2022

Crane fatality at refinery

A man died and another was seriously injured yesterday in a crane incident at the Wood River Refinery in Roxana, Illinois across the river from St Louis, Missouri.

The refinery is operated by Phillips 66 which owns the facility in partnership with Cenovus Energy through a joint venture company WRB Refining. We do not have any details of the incident, apart from the fact that a crane - which we understand (but cannot confirm) to be a Terex CC 2400 lattice crawler - overturned. Sadly, we are able to confirm that the man who died was Chad Crabtree, 47, a project manager for Sterett Crane & Rigging, which has been working at the refinery.

The Madison County Coroner issued a release yesterday which said that the incident occurred during a lift, when a ‘mechanical malfunction’ occurred causing the crane to overturn. As a result, Crabtree sustained a head trauma which resulted in him being declared dead a few hours after the incident occurred. An autopsy is scheduled for later today.

At the same time the crane operator was also injured and taken to hospital where his injuries were initially said to be serious. Investigators from OSHA - the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - are also on site as are the local police.

A spokesman for the Wood River Refinery said: "The safety of our people, the community and the environment are of utmost importance to our company. These priorities will guide our efforts as we investigate the cause of the incident. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family of the deceased. The refinery emergency response team is working to stabilise the impacts of the overturned crane and an investigation into the cause of the incident is underway.”

We have contacted requested more details from the refinery and will update this item when we learn more.