14.07.2025

Swallowed up

A man was injured on Saturday in Chicago, Illinois, when the pavement/sidewalk opened up under the boom lift has using.

The lift, a Genie from the Herc Rentals fleet, dropped one floor into the basement, when the concrete paving panel gave way beneath the lift, the man, 49, suffered a head injury but was reported to be “Fair” when admitted to hospital.
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The short video below shows a little more detail.


Vertikal Comment

He was certainly very lucky in that the lift was stowed so he faced a simple vertical drop, if it had occurred while he was 10 metres up it might have been a completely different story.

What this does highlight is the importance of checking the ground and what’s below, especially in city environments.

Help on this can be found on several industry guidance publications, including IPAF’s recently published guidance that forms part of its new Stop Overturns! campaign