02.10.2024

Manufacturer's incident statement

Italian truck mounted lift manufacturer Socage has issued a statement regarding an incident last month with one of its older truck mounted lifts in Boston, Massachusetts. See: Truck mount boom collapse

The statement is as follows:

“Socage expresses solidarity with the operator involved in the accident in Somerville, Boston (Massachusetts) on September 5th, and has launched a thorough investigation. It is also our duty to share our version of the events regarding what happened.
We learned with great sadness about the accident involving one of our machines, and our first thought was for the injured operator. At Socage, the safety and wellbeing of operators have always been our top priority: high quality platforms with high performance and ease of use for operators to meet the needs of both rental companies and end users."

"Regarding the incident, we wish to inform you that we are promptly investigating what happened. The machine in question, a Socage DA365, was sold as a KIT several years ago, and before releasing any official statement, we will proceed with a careful verification of the information."

"We are determined to fully understand the dynamics of this episode in order to prevent similar events from happening again in the future and will continue to cooperate with the competent authorities and all parties involved to fully clarify what happened. We reaffirm our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality and providing the maximum support to ensure the safety of the operators using our machinery.”

Vertikal Comment

It looks to us as though a lower arm pivot pin managed to work its way out of its location causing the failure. If that is the case, it is likely to have been preceded by a failure/loosening of the pin retainer and subsequently the gradual movement of the pin itself. All of which highlights the importance of daily inspections with a focus on critical pivot pins and bearings etc..

Hopefully the Socage report will be prompt and thorough - as it has pointed out there are likely to be lessons to be learnt from this incident. In the meantime, we applaud the company - in advance - for putting this in the public domain and hope that the operator makes a full recovery. If anyone knows how he is doing please do let us know [email protected]